West House

West House is a detached house originally built as a house with artist's studio, located on Glebe Place in Chelsea. It was designed by the architect Philip Webb in 1868-9 for the artist G P Boyce (died 1897). The house was extended to the west by one bay with matching alterations by Philip Webb in 1876, and was further extended by one bay to the north with internal alterations in 1901 by an architect not identified at the time of inspection.

The exterior is built of red brick in Flemish bond with plain tile roofs and three tall brick stacks, one of which is triangular-shaped. The original wing comprises three storeys and a basement with irregular fenestration. The entrance or south front features the 1868-9 building to the right, with a modillion eaves cornice. The second floor has three cambered-headed sashes with 12 panes and moulded brick bands below. The first floor has two very narrow cambered 12-pane sashes at the sides with a projecting two-storey porch at the centre, topped with a hipped tiled roof and cambered 12-pane sash to front and sides. The central doorcase is dressed with stone octagonal Bath stone half-columns and a wooden fanlight with five elliptical lights. A five-plank oak door was added around 1901, replacing the original eight-panelled Georgian style door. A wall footscraper is present. To the right of the entrance, a brick wall continues with a cambered doorcase with eight flush panels, two of which are glazed, forming the tradesmen's entrance.

Projecting from the south-west corner of the main front is Webb's 1876 addition of two storeys and attics in red brick with imitation crenellation, an end pilaster, and M-shaped linked tile-hung gables with casement windows. The north-east facing wall of this wing has an octagonal window on the first floor and below it a brick pediment with a pointed arched opening beneath, supported on stone impost blocks. A wooden doorcase with iron grilles to the two upper panels is attached to the corner nearest the street. The south-west or garden front is of two to three storeys and basement with irregular fenestration. At the extreme right is an arched entrance from the 1876 addition. To the left of this is a two-storied canted bay with sash windows and pilasters, also added by Philip Webb in 1876. A central first-floor balcony to the original studio has a plain iron handrail with spikes to deter robbers, with narrow sashes on either side. The ground floor has a 12-pane sash and French window, while the basement has two 12-pane sashes. To the north-west is the 1901 wing of one bay in red brick, featuring a gable with kneelers and a casement window to the attic, a five-light casement below, and a canted bay to the ground floor with full-height windows.

The interior retains little alteration and includes numerous original features. Boyce's Dining Room contains a fireplace with a wooden architrave and metal firegrate, a round-headed alcove, a window seat, and built-in bookcases. Boyce's Parlour features dado moulding and a six-panelled door. The Staircase Hall is panelled with an oak well staircase, which originally had a solid handrail but at the time of survey had balusters taken from the gallery of the original artist's studio. At first-floor level, a Gothic arch fronts the alcove formed by the top floor of the porch. Boyce's Bedroom includes a stone fireplace, panelling, and a windowseat. The adjoining Dressing Room has a stone fireplace lined with seventeenth-century English tiles. The former studio features a gallery supported on three fifteenth-century style octagonal posts with headbraces originally painted with acanthus leaf decoration. At the time of survey, a suspended ceiling masked the original higher ceiling with skylight. A Gothic-style wooden fireplace is present. A back staircase with stick balusters provides secondary access. The basement is unusually intact and includes offices such as a china cupboard, a tiled kitchen with built-in cupboards, a large walk-in larder with slate shelves, and a stone fireplace to the Housekeeper's Parlour. The tradesmen's entrance retains an original wooden bench.

West House is one of the earliest examples of the Queen Anne Revival style, presenting an interesting juxtaposition of the new style's hipped roofs, symmetrical sash windows, and fanlight to the front door with Gothic-style elements including the studio gallery, Gothic arch to the Staircase Hall, and archway to the 1876 wing. The interiors have been the subject of numerous magazine and newspaper articles worldwide.