11 Constable Close

A house built in 1923–1924 by architect John Carrick Stuart Soutar for Edwin John Tanner, designed in a late 17th- and early 18th-century style. The property is accessed via a carriage drive running between Constable Close and Meadway Close.

The house is constructed of brownish-red brick laid in Flemish bond, with red brick to the corner pilasters and a stone eaves cornice. The pitched roof is tiled with hipped sections set at right-angles to the west and east elevations. Tall end stacks in brown brick with recessed panels rise asymmetrically from the roofline. The windows are casements with leaded cames.

The house has a rectangular footprint set on an east–west axis, varied by projecting windows. The main entrance is set off-centre to the north, with a loggia to the south containing a central entrance. A single-storey garage block is attached to the east; a swimming pool has been added to the south-east of this range and does not contribute to the special interest of the building.

The north elevation comprises three sections: the two projecting gabled outer sections are two windows wide with recessed corner pilasters, whilst the central section is three windows wide with asymmetrical fenestration. Windows in the central section are separated by brick pilasters, with the doorway positioned to the east. The recessed corner pilasters spring from integrated brick bases. The doorway is set back within a porch 'in antis', accessed by two steps with horizontal-tiled risers. It has a moulded stone surround with a pulvinated frieze below a shallow cornice and a rectangular geometric fanlight. Beside the doorway is a brass bell-pull in a small circular stone frame. At the centre of this section is a tall segmental-arched window lighting the upper part of the stair, with a narrow slit window below. Ground-floor windows are mullioned and transomed with floating brick hoodmoulds; first-floor windows are mullioned with segmental-arched tops. Above each section is a central segmental-arched dormer window.

The south-facing garden front is symmetrical. The central section is recessed between projecting wings and filled by a loggia with three stone arches supporting a first-floor balcony with a pierced brick balustrade. The central round-headed doorway contains glazed French doors; to either side is a tall segmental-arched window. On the first floor, a central canted bay window projects to the balcony, flanked by windows reaching the eaves cornice. The south faces of the wings are articulated by receding planes, with a first-floor window in the central panel flanked by narrow strips of red brick and recessed pilasters to the corners. Canted brick bays occur to the ground floor. Segmental-headed dormer windows rise above each section. A stone terrace constructed in the early 21st century extends into the garden from the loggia, with ramps to east and west.

The west elevation has a wide bay to the north with mullioned and transomed windows to each floor. To the south is a double-height square bay window nearly filled by tripartite mullioned and transomed windows on each floor, above which are two segmental-headed dormer windows. The east elevation is obscured at ground-floor level by the service and garage wing; above, a wide external stack rises through the centre of the elevation, ramped at eaves level. The north elevation of the eastern service and garage wing has two segmental-headed garage openings with replacement doors to the east and a round-headed doorway with a horizontal window lighting the former scullery to the west. The south elevation has triple-arched openings to the swimming pool.

The original ground-floor decorative scheme was of good quality, employing a range of historicist styles; all such decorative features have been removed, though narrow hardwood floorboards survive throughout, some with damage. The special interest of the interior lies principally in its plan form and surviving features on the upper floors.

The porch leads into a lobby divided by an archway, giving access to a WC lit by a small window at right angles to the porch and to the former study to the west, which could be accessed from outside without entering the main part of the house. The central hall is entered from the lobby to the south and opens to the loggia and garden beyond. Arched windows to either side of the central doorway are provided with window seats. The ceiling is divided into two compartments by an axial beam; the fireplace to the west retains no chimneypiece. The north-east corner of the hall is partitioned, formerly enclosing the service stairwell, now occupied by a lift. A doorway to the north gives access to the service corridor and formerly to the service stair. The drawing room opens to the west and the dining room to the east, both formerly entered through double doors. Both rooms have ceilings divided by two axial beams, with secondary doors to the north providing access from the service corridor. The kitchen occupies the north-east corner of the building, with a pantry to the west; these spaces are now combined. The western part of the service and garage range formerly provided a scullery and boiler room, with the double garage to the east; this area has undergone reconfiguration. The main stair at the centre of the building to the north is accessed from the hall; the finials, balusters and panelling were removed in 2020.

Upstairs, moulded architraves surround the doorways; the doors have been removed. Large bedrooms at either side of the house have bay windows overlooking the garden. The western bedroom, the principal bedroom, has sole access to the central balcony via a door in the corner; the eastern bedroom has a window in this position. Both rooms have simple coved cornices. The western bedroom forms part of a suite separated from the landing by a doorway with a leaded fanlight above, and includes a dressing room to the north-west with bathrooms to the east. The central room on the south side of the landing was originally the day nursery, with no direct access to the balcony but with a window seat in the central canted bay window. The north-east bedroom was originally the night nursery. The former spare room to the south-east retains a fitted bookcase with original architrave matching those surrounding the doors. A new attic stair has been fitted into a former lobby and cupboard to the east. In the attic, the original configuration is thought to survive much as planned, with some additional partitioning. Leaded rectangular fanlights occur above the attic doorways, and a large original built-in cupboard survives to the south-west.