Upper Terrace House And Attached Walls

Upper Terrace House and Attached Walls

A detached house originally built around 1740 as part of a terrace of three houses, with alterations made around 1800. It was comprehensively remodelled as a single dwelling between 1931 and 1932 by the architect Oliver Hill for Colonel Reggie and Lady Cooper, with further additions built in 1937–38 by James Forbes of Forbes and Tate. The building is constructed of red and brown brick with slate roofs and brick stacks.

The house comprises two storeys with an asymmetrical plan behind a regular facade that was refronted by Hill. Forbes' range is set at right angles to the left, abutting the street and linked to walls surrounding the site.

The main elevation was refronted by Hill, though evidence suggests he followed the 18th-century work beneath, particularly in his central parapet, for which evidence of a predecessor survives. The facade is symmetrical with nine windows arranged across slightly projecting central bays of three. A central door with a moulded surround in flamboyant Georgian style is flanked by flush frame architraved sash windows with keystones and contrasting red brick voussoirs. A cornice and blocking course complete the composition, with the central three bays topped by a pediment containing an oeil-de-boeuf window.

The garden elevation is more complex. To the left sits a symmetrical range of three bays with a central 18th-century door and sash windows under gauged brick heads reused or remodelled by Hill. A projecting 19th-century bellcote rises from this section. To the right, a projecting facade staircase hall was remodelled by Hill; it features a large staircase window that was partly infilled in the late 20th century. Adjacent to this stands a shaped projecting bay containing the dining room, designed by Hill and featuring his tripartite window under a tympanum. Further right, a servants' area was rebuilt by Forbes with sash windows behind decorative grilles and first-floor round windows in wings, topped by a modillion eaves cornice.

The side elevation facing the street is similarly treated, with shutters to the first floor and a tile roof behind a low parapet. 18th-century work survives here, including a blocked door at the junction with the 1937–38 wing. The eastern side elevation features a projecting bow of approximately 1800.

The interior was extensively replanned by Hill, and his spaces largely survive. A central entrance hall, its late 20th-century decoration being of limited interest, leads right to a drawing room containing an inserted fireplace of around 1760 and moulded cornice of 1931–32, and left to a library with an installed fireplace and panelling that includes some early 18th-century pieces. Behind these lies an oval dining room. The staircase hall was remodelled by Hill with a screen of Ionic columns and simpler pilasters at the top, with staircase treads by Hill; the balustrade was renewed in the late 20th century. The first-floor corridor at the top of the stairs continues Hill's composition, featuring round arches and pilasters under keystones. The interior of the Forbes and Tate wing is not of particular interest.

Hill's facade demonstrates the subtle boundary between stripped classicism and full-blown modernism in his architectural work of this period, despite the Vogue Regency detailing and the incorporation of genuine 18th-century elements within the interior. Colonel Cooper was well known for his restoration of manor houses. During the Second World War the house was occupied by Sir Kenneth Clark, the art historian.