Springbok House (formerly known as Warren House)

Springbok House (formerly Warren House)

An early 19th-century small country house, altered and extended between the 1820s and mid-19th century by the architect Sir Robert Smirke in Neo-Jacobean style for his own occupation. The porte-cochere was present by 1871 and the north-west part was added between 1898 and 1913 in matching style. In the 1980s the building was re-fenestrated and internally re-fitted.

The building is constructed of yellow stock brick, with the western part mainly rendered, slate roofs and rendered chimneystacks. It has replacement wooden sash windows with horns and vertical glazing bars.

The plan is roughly rectangular with a projecting porte-cochere to the north-west and a projecting spur to the north-east, comprising two wings divided by the porte-cochere. The western part, probably the earlier section, is of two storeys and attics. The eastern part is of three storeys. Since the 1980s the interior ground floor of the western part has comprised a large communal area.

The north-west or entrance front comprises two parts divided by the porte-cochere. The earlier western part is rendered, of two bays with a hipped slate roof with a dormer window. The left bay projects with a Dutch gable bearing a tablet with a blank shield and two sash windows to the upper floor. The porte-cochere has four pilasters, three round-headed arches with keystones and brackets and a parapet with pierced panels, partly concealing a hipped slate roof. The rear wall provides an entrance into the house. The eastern section of the north-west front is of yellow brick, three storeys and seven bays, with the central three bays projecting and bearing three Dutch gables and moulded bands both to the parapet and between the first and second floors. Further east is a two-storey two-bay section with the end bay projecting. Two ground floor entrances are located on the eastern part of the north-west front.

The south-west side is of two storeys, rendered, and has four Dutch gables. The first and third bays from the north have full-height canted bays. The second bay has two adjacent sash windows and the fourth bay has a single sash window.

The south-east or garden front is also rendered and of two storeys. The western four bays have Dutch gables and the second bay from the north has a full-height canted bay. Two other bays slightly project. At the northern end are a further three bays which are slightly higher with a central full-height canted bay.

The north-east side, probably originally the service end, is of two storeys and L-shaped on plan. The northern end projects, with four sash windows in the return, while the south part has four sash windows and a round-headed doorcase.

The western wing interior is now mainly without room divisions, comprising a large communal space. A round-headed alcove on the ground floor of the western wing may be historic. The late 20th-century internal fittings in both the western and eastern wings are excluded from the listing.