Elstree School, Woolhampton House Woolhampton House

Woolhampton House, now Elstree School, is a large house dating back to the 17th and 18th centuries, with significant alterations and additions around 1900. The southern block, facing south, was built in the 18th century and subsequently altered around 1900. It is constructed of red brick with grey brick headers, an ashlar plinth with banded rustication, stone window dressings, and plat bands. It has a deep moulded wooden eaves cornice and a hipped tile roof with two chimney stacks. The house is arranged over three storeys and has nine bays, with glazing bar sashes and moulded architraves. The central three bays slightly project. A prominent central first-floor window features garlands, a keystone, and a segmental pediment on scrolled brackets; flat hoods cover the second and eighth first-floor windows. The ground floor windows feature keystones, and the central window is tripartite. A two-storey, one-bay addition is on the left side with a coped parapet.

The east front has three bays, with the ground and first floors projecting. The ground floor is ashlar with a cornice, while the first floor is of a later date, incorporating a plat band at sill level and a coped parapet. The west front features a circa 1900 projecting ground floor in ashlar with a cornice and parapet, above which is a balustrade. A recessed porch has two Doric columns in antis, leading to a pair of five-panelled doors with a rectangular fanlight and flanked by windows with keystones.

The north-eastern block, facing east, also dates from around 1900. It is red brick with stone dressings, plat bands, a deep moulded wooden eaves cornice, and a flat roof with one chimney stack. It is arranged over three storeys and has five bays, with glazing bar sashes and moulded architraves. A three-storey, three-bay projection is to the left. Balustraded balconies and eared architraves feature on the first-floor windows, with a segmental pediment above the central window. A wing projects at a 45-degree angle from the right-hand bays, constructed of red brick with grey headers, stone dressings, a parapet, and a hipped tiled roof. A one-storey section has coupled glazing bar sashes with architraves, a central pair of French casements with a Doric doorcase including half columns supporting a segmental pediment with a keystone.

The north-western block, facing west, dates back to the 18th century with circa 1900 alterations. Constructed of red brick with stone dressings, it has a plat band between the first and second floors, a cornice, and a coped parapet. A Tiled gambrel roof has two ridge stacks and four dormers with segmental pediments. The house is arranged over three storeys and an attic, with seven bays and glazing bar sashes with architraves. Flat hoods cover the first-floor windows; small circular windows are located between the second and third, and fifth and sixth bays, on the first and second floors. A doorway in the second bay from the right has a two-panelled door, a rectangular fanlight, an architrave, and a flat hood on scrolled brackets. A two-storey wing projects to the left and is of brick with a plat band, cornice, coped parapet, and hipped roof. The left-hand return wall has three bays and glazing bar sashes with architraves.

The interior largely dates from around 1900, featuring a staircase, fireplaces, and panelling. The gardens are landscaped and include two small lakes. The house is noted in various architectural publications. Lewis Vulliamy is documented to have worked at Woolhampton House.