Squerryes Court

Squerryes Court is a Grade I listed Renaissance manor house built in 1681 by Sir Nicholas Crisp, a wealthy Guinea merchant. In the early 18th century, it was acquired by John Warde, an ancestor of the current owners. The house is set in a landscaped park with an ornamental lake in front and a gazebo on a hill opposite. The estate extends over a large area to the south of Westerham and includes several farmhouses listed separately.

The building is rectangular with a typical Queen Anne style red brick façade. It has two storeys, a projecting moulded cornice with modillions, and a steep hip slate roof with pedimented gable end dormers. The symmetrical elevation features a central pedimented projection and a 19th-century projecting stone porch with columns and an entablature. The 19th-century sash windows are set in exposed moulded frames with vertical and horizontal sash bars, and flat arches above the windows are made of rubbed red headers. The corners of the building have end brick pilasters, and there is a stone plinth and a brick band. The dormers have square-paned casements, and there is a circular window in the centre of the pediment.

Inside, the original layout has been significantly altered, with the staircase removed in the mid-19th century to create a large entrance hall featuring a Roman Doric screen. Some original dado panelling, enriched doors and windows, plaster cornices, and original fireplace surrounds remain. The Warde family has owned Squerryes for the last two centuries, and one of them, John Warde, was known as the "Father of Fox Hunting." The house also houses a valuable collection of paintings.