Summer House

The Summer House at Spring Grove House is a building dating from around 1894, attributed to architect W.B. Catherwood. It is constructed of painted brick with wooden facing and features a wooden verandah, encaustic tiles on the floor, and a tiled roof. The structure is a rectangular, single-storey bungalow raised on a platform of brick and stone.

The exterior includes a wooden verandah that runs around all four sides, supporting a shallow pitched roof with deep eaves. These eaves are carried on twisted wooden columns, with three pairs of consoles at the junction with the eaves, and a scalloped valance on the outer face. The undersides of the eaves are panelled. The gables on the north, east, and west sides are decorated with cartouches within strapwork surrounds. Each side has railings with a mix of X-shaped and square section supports, and there are openings at the corners and centre of each side. The inner building features splayed angles and a six-panel door at the centre of the south side, along with projecting four-light windows on the east and west sides. The north side is adorned with an arcade that includes grotesque masks in the heads of the arches, a motif that is repeated on either side of the door. There is also a moulded cornice and a string course at cill level.

Inside, there is a large architectural chimney-piece in the French Renaissance style, which has a segmental termination. The fireplace is surrounded by mosaic with marble slips and a shouldered frame, and there are foliate brackets on either side of the pyramidal chimney-breast. A banquette with fielded panels serves as a backrest, and in-situ cupboards flank the chimney-breast.

Historically, the Summer House was built for soap magnate Andrew Pears as part of his enhancements to Spring Grove House. Catherwood also designed the lodge, which shares some stylistic similarities with this structure. It is noted as a well-preserved and richly decorated example of its kind.