Starr House

Starr House, formerly known as Commerce House, is a house with an attached shop, dating back to circa 1700 for the house itself and circa 1800 for the shop. It is situated at an angle to the street in Cley next the Sea.

The shop facade faces the street and is constructed of gault brick with a parapet concealing pantiles; it has three bays and two storeys, with internal stacks at each end. A raised platform with a stone pavement, accessible by three stone steps in the centre, leads to the shop front. The ground floor facade features square, fluted pilasters with fluted console brackets that support an entablature. A recessed double-leaved door, with glazed upper panels and glazing bars, is centrally positioned. There are two wide bay windows with curved panes and glazing bars, and three sash windows with glazing bars to the first floor, each featuring skewback arches. A lean-to adjoins the right-hand side, covered with pantiles and featuring a shaped parapet to the street. The lean-to’s construction is of coursed flint interspersed with bricks. A nineteenth-century shop window with three large panes is flanked by pilasters supporting an entablature, with two recessed brick panels underneath. Quoins are formed from eighteenth-century brick. A lower lean-to on the right, now the Cley Smoke House, also features a shaped parapet to the street, built with uncoursed flint, with a shop door and window to the ground floor and a louvred opening to a loft above. The left-hand gable is constructed of alternating flint courses of regular flint and brick, while the right-hand gable, above the lean-to, is of pebble flint.

The interior of the shop contains numerous fittings from around 1800, including an oak and pine counter with a twisted baluster, ranks of small oak drawers, and segmental headed recesses lined with turned columns and reeded pilasters. The roof timbers of the first lean-to incorporate reused ships spars, incorporating some timber framing. A colourwashed brick rear range has pantiles.

The attached rear range has a two-cell lobby entrance plan, extending five bays with two storeys and an attic. A moulded platband and cornice are present, and a central axial stack rises through the structure. Flush sash windows with glazing bars are located in bays 2 and 4 on both the ground and first floors, while bays 1 and 5 contain blocked openings. A centrally positioned recessed six-panelled door is set within panelled reveals, and a gabled roof dormer is visible in bay 4. The left-hand gable has been rebuilt. Modern extensions of no particular architectural interest are attached to bays 3 and 4. The rear elevation is of coursed flint with brick dressings and a dentil cornice. Alterations include an inserted French window and a first floor window, alongside two raking dormers, one dating from 1980 with glazing bars. Inside, a staircase is found behind a large central stack. A left-hand first floor room contains a duck's nest grate with Prince of Wales feathers and the inscription "Ich Dien". The roof features butt purlins with collars. An open string staircase with a curved upper flight, a wreathed mahogany handrail, turned newel posts, and an octagonal lantern above (sometimes known as Miss Starr's Shop) is located in an extension to the rear of the right-hand cell.