Lees Court

Lees Court is a house, now converted into flats, completed around 1652 for Sir George Sondes and substantially rebuilt in 1912 by Edward Hoare and Montague Wheeler. The house was constructed on a pre-17th century plan around a courtyard. It is built of brick, rendered with ashlar pilaster bases and capitals, and features a slate roof. The main facade is two storeys and 13 bays, with giant Ionic pilasters featuring moulded bases and large swags between volutes of capitals. An enriched entablature sits above, with cornice brackets supporting large overhanging eaves. A hipped roof is topped with eight stacks arranged along the ridge and at the rear. The windows are regular, with 13 glazing bar sashes on each floor, lacking any surrounding mouldings. The central four windows on the ground floor are slightly raised. A central half-glazed door is framed by a moulded stone surround topped with a scrolled, enriched pediment enclosing a cartouche. A right return, constructed in 1912 by Hoare, serves as a new entrance front in a Baroque style, showcasing a large Doric portico in two stages, and a large Venetian window to the left. The rear courtyard was also reconstructed in 1912 and has a domestic character. The interior was entirely rebuilt in 1912 and subsequently converted into flats. The entrance hall features an internal arcaded porch and Doric screens to the rear of the hall, with an original Ionic screen now infilled at the head of the staircase. A heavy wooden staircase, following an Imperial plan, includes pendant newels and pierced balustrades carved with heraldic beasts. The central hall, behind the front entrance, has a ceiling reproducing a 17th century design, but lowered, featuring cross-beams and a large, enriched oval. While the extent of structural reconstruction is difficult to determine, the front facade appears original. Evidence of a fire in 1911, which destroyed the original house, remains in the molten lead on the bases of the pilasters. The interiors and roof were certainly rebuilt. The building has been attributed to Inigo Jones or John Webb, although the use of a giant order, irregular proportions, and Ionic capitals, along with planning irregularities, suggest neither architect was responsible. Comparisons have been drawn between the original interior and Thorpe Hall, Northamptonshire, both featuring swagged capitals. Similar features are also found externally at Lindsey House, Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London, and the central block at Cobham Hall, suggesting the involvement of Peter Mills, a noted bricklayer and architect in London. Sir George Sondes had significant connections to the City of London. The roof’s unusual form appears to be a compromise from the original intention of a balustraded roof with a higher pitch. The gardens were redesigned from 1908 onwards by Thomas Mawson.