Crosshand

House. Designed and built in 1904 by architect Ernest Newton, with builder F P Duthoit of Bromley, in Neo-Georgian style. The attached late 20th-century garage to the north east is not of special interest. Crosshand Lodge, a later 20th-century building attached to the south west in separate ownership, is not of special interest.

Materials consist of red Wrotham bricks in English bond with a hipped tiled roof and six tall brick chimneystacks. The house features moulded timber cornices and windows.

The building has an H-shaped plan with a two-storey front porch and a single-storey spur to the south west of one bay containing service rooms. The ground floor contains four principal rooms. The house is two storeys with attics, spanning nine bays. The published plans and elevations were reversed in construction, so the service end was placed to the south west rather than the south east as originally designed.

The north west or entrance front is almost symmetrical, with three central hipped dormers containing casement windows and a projecting two-storey entrance porch that breaks through the eaves. The projecting end wings are two storeys each. The porch has stylised recessed rusticated quoins, a cambered-headed sash to the first floor, and a two-panelled front door with curved fanlight and side lights set within a porch featuring an arched timber cornice, lead roof, and brick pilasters. To the left, a tall three-tier, three-light staircase window breaks the symmetry, with smaller windows on the other side. The wings each have two sash windows with cambered heads at ground floor level. A contemporary engraving suggests the central first floor and projecting wing windows originally had shutters. The single-storey service wing to the south west has a triple casement window. The south east or garden front is almost symmetrical with three triple hipped dormers containing renewed casement windows and nine sash windows to the first floor. The ground floor breaks the symmetry, with no windows to the left-hand side wing (originally the servant's hall), a half-glazed door with divided rectangular fanlight on the extreme left of the recessed centre, offset for effect, and French windows with side lights to the right of centre in a shallow canted bay with tiled roof. A contemporary engraving shows louvred sun shutters originally covered all windows on the garden front.

Internally, the lobby leads left to a staircase hall. The staircase is oak with solid balustrading, newel posts with finials, and oak panelling. Two doors feature brought-in pedimented and scrolled overmantels with swags. The hall fireplace has been brought in, and there is a late 20th-century round-headed alcove adjoining. The drawing room has a brought-in fireplace. The ground floor retains some original eight-panelled doors. The cornices and skirting boards are replacements. The service end retains the original service staircase. The upper floor has a corridor with some round-headed arches and four-panelled doors but no original fireplaces.

Crosshand was designed in 1904 by architect Ernest Newton as one of three buildings by him on the Bickley Park estate, the others being No 36 (Bickley Court) and No 35 (Ennore). Architect C H B Quennell was also building houses on this estate. The Bickley Park estate was a property development by developer Mr Hart. The ground floor plan was published in "The Builder" of 14 May 1904, described as "House at Bickley Kent", with accompanying text stating "The materials are red Wrotham bricks and tiles; the windows are painted white, and the sun shutters green. The builder is Mr F P Duthoit of Bromley, Kent. Mr Ernest Newton is the architect." The plan appeared again in "The Builder" of 29 April 1905. Both front and rear elevations were the subject of contemporary engravings by Winton Newman. A notable peculiarity is that both published plans and engravings show the house as a mirror image of its actual construction, with the service end to the south east and principal rooms to the south west, but this was reversed during construction, with probable minor modifications to room sizes. Later in the 20th century, the house was divided into four flats but has since reverted to single ownership.