Admiral's House

This house was built in the early 18th century for Charles Keys and has undergone numerous alterations and additions over three centuries.

The building is constructed of brick, now rendered and painted. The original section has a hipped slate roof, though late 20th-century dormer windows have been inserted. The tall brick chimneys include a rendered external stack to the north-east. The sash windows throughout are late 20th-century replacements.

The house is believed to have begun as a rectangular three-bay, three-storey building with basement and attic, its entrance front facing east. It expanded gradually: a full-height extension to the west was added in the mid-18th century; in the late 18th century an extra half-storey was introduced to the west with a 'quarterdeck' roof; during the 19th century an entrance block was built facing what is now Admiral's Walk at the south-east corner, modified in the early 20th century and extended eastwards by a garage (since replaced and not of special interest). A late 20th-century kitchen extension to the north-east is also not of special interest. Beyond this to the north stands a 20th-century squash court, constructed between 1915 and 1934.

Exterior

The original east-facing front elevation features a central pediment containing a Diocletian window. The two outer bays have full-height canted bay windows rising through three storeys, thought to be later 18th-century additions. A 20th-century door opening has been made in the northern bay. The original central entrance is now obscured by the south-eastern extension, which includes a single-storey block at the centre of this elevation forming part of the new entrance hall. Above this sits a 20th-century roofed balcony, accessed through a doorway created by enlarging the original window opening.

The south elevation comprises three bays with basement and the raised half-storey to the west. Chamfered piers dividing the bays at ground-floor level appear to date from the mid-19th century. In the eastern bay, the two upper windows are blind; the blind first-floor window contains a brown London County Council plaque commemorating the residence of Sir George Gilbert Scott, architect, erected in 1910. Above the second-floor window in the western bay of the raised section is a weatherboarded canted bay. The larger portion of the south-eastern extension, containing the new south-facing entrance, has a conservatory above. Drawings by A R Quinton of 1911 and Norman Janes of 1941 demonstrate that the central doorway—with its Doric columns supporting a broken pediment—and the steps with swept walls and railings date from between those years. East of the entrance block is a small canted extension, with an adjoining garage replacing a mid-20th-century predecessor.

On the north elevation, the western extension is apparent, with the extra bay projecting northwards. The fenestration on this elevation is irregular, and the ground floor is partly obscured by the late 20th-century kitchen extension and the verandah in front of it. At the top of the building, the south-west section of the flat roof is surrounded by railings forming the lower deck, which has a flagpole in the south corner. Over the north-west portion of the building is the raised additional room with the railed quarterdeck above, its east face weatherboarded; there is a window at the south end of the west elevation and another at the north-east corner.

Interior

The south entrance leads into the hall, with a cloakroom in the extension to the east, then through an archway to a vestibule and into the original building. The panelled archway and hall panelling are thought to be early 20th-century. The original opening for the main entrance has been removed. The central hall within the original part of the house has an early 19th-century cornice with acanthus moulding.

Opening from the hall are the present drawing room to the south and the dining room to the north. In the drawing room, the arched door-opening in the centre of the bay has been blocked in connection with the extension. The 19th-century window shutters have recessed panels embellished with 20th-century mouldings; similar mouldings are applied to the door. The room has a simple chimneypiece in an early 19th-century manner, with flat grey marble panels to the jambs and frieze and a reeded border of white marble. To either side of the chimneybreast, the alcoves are filled by arches with plasterwork decoration carrying motifs in neoclassical style, thought to date from the later 18th century but possibly not in situ; the room's cornice is decorated with vines with egg-and-dart moulding below.

The dining room to the north has shutters with mouldings as in the drawing room, also applied to the dado, and a plasterwork cornice. The marble chimneypiece appears to be late 18th-century but with later scagliola decoration; there are arabesques in the manner of Pietro Bossi to the jambs, but to the centre, a naïve narrative scene on the central frieze panel with an angel riding a donkey. To either side of the bay window are engaged stands in the form of classical pilasters, apparently formed from two halves of an 18th-century pedestal.

To the rear of the house is the open wall stair, which appears to be of early 19th-century design, with stick balusters, simple turned newels, and a mahogany handrail of curved section ramped at the turns, the open string having decorative brackets.

On the upper floors, a secondary stair leads to additional rooms in the western extension, the separation between the two parts being marked by archways with plasterwork in late 18th-century style. The cornice to both sections of the stair shares the early 19th-century acanthus cornice found in the hall. The mouldings to the stair are 20th-century. On the third floor, the walls to the western landing have what appears to be 18th-century panelling; the broken pediments above the openings in this area are 20th-century additions.

On the first floor in the main section, the study is to the south and the library to the north. The study has an 18th-century timber chimneypiece to the west wall, carved with floral swags and stripped. The cornice to this room may be 18th-century; the window shutters are 19th-century. In the library, the early 19th-century chimneypiece to the north wall of Sienna and white marbles is of neoclassical design, with urns to the end blocks and frieze panel. The bookcases lining this room, together with the cornice, are 20th-century. The shutters in this room may be replacements. Between the two rooms is an anteroom, with double doors from the study and the enlarged east window opening leading to the balcony.

On the second floor, the two rooms within the main section are bedrooms, both retaining their window shutters. In the northern room two axial beams are exposed, one being across the front of the house before the canted bay. In the attic space above, a bedroom has been created, lit by the Diocletian window and 20th-century dormers.

Within the western section of the house, the rooms on the ground, first and second floors retain few historic features, with a number of bathrooms having been installed, though there is a mid-19th-century slate chimneypiece in the north-west bedroom on the first floor. On the third floor, the small room to the south, lit by the canted bay, has been converted to a kitchen; the bay is framed by decorative plasterwork, and there is a small arched recess to the west. On the fourth floor is a raised additional room, created in the late 18th century. This room has a carved timber chimneypiece in 18th-century style which may be original. The plasterwork cornice is probably original. A lift, installed within cupboard space to the west of the house, projects into this room.

The basement within the main section represents the former kitchen and service area. Few historic features remain, but in the southern room is the wide chimney opening for the former kitchen range, and this room retains some plain early panelling and a door with recessed panels, latch and strap hinges which may be 18th-century. The northern room has been divided to make a bedroom and bathroom. Utility rooms have been formed within the additional areas to the south-east and the west; the western extension encloses a deep 18th-century brick-lined well.

The property has 20th-century cast-iron railings to the areas.