Penton

A house built in 1930–32 by Thomas Henry Wilson for himself, designed in the Vernacular Revival style. The building is constructed of hand-made brown and buff brick with timber frame panels, stone dressings, tile hanging and tile roofs.

The house comprises two and two-and-a-half storeys and is arranged with a near-symmetrical entrance front and an asymmetrical garden front. The main range, faced in brick, extends across five bays with outer forward half-hipped wings. The ground floor is of brick while the upper storey is timber-framed.

The entrance front features a central gabled porch, timber-framed with herringbone brick nogging and a tiled roof. The porch contains a pair of moulded and studded doors set under a four-centred arched head in a moulded frame with carved spandrels. Four-light side windows have diamond leaded glazing. The eaves are deep with moulded bargeboards and drop finials. Ground floor windows have stone mullions and transoms with four and two lights; first floor outer windows have four and two light stone mullions. The central timber window frame above the porch roof has two lights each side of a brick panel and one outer light below; all main windows have square leaded panes. Three full half-hipped dormers with tile-hung cheeks each contain two lights with diamond-set leaded panes. These alternate with three tall brick axial stacks featuring grouped octagonal shafts on a rectangular base, with moulded collars and caps. The wings have stone mullions at ground floor and timber mullions at first floor, all with rectangular leaded panes. The left entrance is housed in a moulded stone doorcase with four-centred arched head. The right wing has a similar tall stack to its right flank. The right return comprises two gabled bays; the ground floor has timber mullion and transom windows with brick piers between. The upper floor is jettied and timber-framed with moulded bressumers, and the first floor timber mullions have rectangular leaded panes—those to the left flush, the remainder set forward on brackets. Open brackets support deep eaves with moulded bargeboards.

The garden front presents a tall offset stack in brick with dark diaper patterning, culminating in three octagonal shafts. A small three-light brick oriel at first floor sits into the stack beneath a flush stone band. The ground floor features a two-light stone mullion window flanking the stack to the left, and two single lights in moulded stone architraves flank a ground floor chimneypiece, above which a sundial is set into a gablet. A shallow gabled bay to the right contains stone mullion and transome windows. The central section is set forward in three bays and rises three storeys under a deep swept roof descending to first floor level. The outer bays and returns have stone dressings; the central windows are timber-framed between brick piers, with a central four-centred arched timber doorcase containing moulded and studded doors. A similar stone doorcase stands to the right. Upper floors have diminishing half-hipped dormers detailed as on the front elevation and framed by the axial stacks. A kitchen wing to the right is of brick with a timber-framed upper storey; stone windows light the ground floor and timber windows light the upper floor. All but the upper dormers have rectangular leaded panes.

The interior is of exceptional quality. A long hall runs the length of the building with a stair rising parallel to the main axis, entirely panelled in honey-coloured oak with a dentil cornice. A pair of inner hall doors have panelled lower sections with small rectangular glazed panes above. The chimneypiece features a four-centred arched stone fireplace with brick linings and panelling above. At the base of the stair, a pair of shallow four-centred arches frame a moulded central post. The closed-string stair is decorated with a vine leaf and fruit trail to the string, has square newels with individual pomegranate finials, chunky turned balusters and a moulded rail. A small panelled alcove is set into the frame of the stair. Fluted pilasters appear at landing level, and panelled hall cupboards have snakes head hinges.

The front sitting room has a recessed brick chimneypiece with a moulded timber bressumer below a brick arch, heavy chamfered beams, and moulded cornices and friezes with a vine leaf trail. The garden sitting room contains a brick chimneypiece with a timber mantelpiece and tile bands, with small recesses flanking a round-arched fireplace. An overmantel has a pair of arched recesses. A moulded timber picture rail frames the room, and the plasterwork includes a plastered cornice and beams with vine leaf and oak leaf trails.

The dining room is panelled in oak with Ionic pilasters at the angles and flanking the chimneybreast, and an enriched frieze. A stone four-centred arched chimneypiece displays a moulded frieze and spandrels. The chimney back is of patterned brick and tile. A deep moulded plaster cornice and beams run throughout. All principal rooms feature six-panel doors with brass snakes head hinges and heavy brass handles.

The kitchen has been largely refitted, but the scullery and larder retain painted panelled cupboards with snakes head hinges. The first floor, not fully inspected at the time of listing, is said to have similar oak-panelled landing cupboards and painted-panelled bedroom cupboards, with some original fireplaces said to remain.

The house is substantial even by Surbiton standards. Thomas Henry Wilson, who built it for himself, is thought to have been an architect, builder or surveyor. Although no architect is attributed, the quality of design, materials and craftsmanship is extremely high. The house remains almost unaltered, retaining all original surfaces and materials, with all principal rooms surviving complete with high-quality joinery, plasterwork, fireplaces and meticulous attention to detail throughout.