The Rookery

The Rookery is a house located on Tavern Street in Stowmarket, dating from the early 17th century. It was refronted and had its interior remodeled in 1770. The building features a roughcast timber frame beneath a machine tile roof and has two storeys with a dormer attic, arranged in five bays. The facade is asymmetrical, with a central six-panelled door that has panelled reveals, a plain overlight, and an open pediment. On either side of the door are two sash windows, each with six-over-six glazing bars, bolection-moulded surrounds, and hoods. The first floor has five three-over-six sash windows with similar surrounds. The gabled roof is adorned with three gabled dormers, each fitted with two-light casements. A 19th-century ridge stack is present.

At the rear, there is a two-storey brick cross wing, which is gabled and covered with plain tiles. The fenestration at the rear includes a mix of windows, including two 20th-century casements, a tripartite sash, and a ten-over-ten sash. The east gable wall of the front range features a two-storey bow that is lit by three curved six-over-six sashes on each floor, dating from around 1770.

Inside, the property boasts a fully panelled Adamesque room with an elliptical arched doorway, medallion ovals, and heads in the spandrels. There is an 18th-century mantelpiece, and one bedroom features a wide coved ceiling cornice, an enriched plaster frieze, and ceiling panel mouldings. The staircase is notable for having three fluted balusters per tread and scrolled tread ends.