Avalon

A large house, dating from the early 19th century with early 20th-century extensions and refurbishment. It may have been originally designed by Septimus Burton, with later extensions potentially by Edwin Lutyens. The house is constructed of rendered material with slate roofs and brick stacks.

The house faces south-south-west and has an overall T-shaped plan, comprising a long, double-depth main range with a central corridor running along its length, and a rear service wing set at a right angle. The stairwell rises off the corridor to the rear. The original core of the house is the central section of the main range, with principal rooms situated on either side of what is now a garden entrance. The early 20th-century additions are slightly set back, framing the present main entrance at the east end.

The south front is symmetrical, with three bays on either side of a central five-bay section, and features hipped roofs with deep eaves on the main block and flanking wings. The stacks have rendered shafts with brick cornices. A canted entrance bay, added in the early 20th century, has a deep projecting porch roof supported by carved stone brackets. A roundel window beneath the hood is framed by stylized foliage carving. The front door is set within a stone architrave and features a two-leaf timber door with diagonal glazing bars in the upper panels. The ground floor windows are 12-pane sashes with segmental arched heads, matched by early 20th-century sashes in the main 19th-century section. First-floor windows are also 12-pane sashes, with 8-pane sashes to the returns. All windows have louvred green sun shutters. The rear elevation presents a mixture of casement and sash windows, mostly from the early 20th century, including a large five-light stair window with two transoms and small panes. The right return features steps leading to an early 20th-century open-fronted porch with a hipped slate roof and sash windows, including a Venetian window to the ground floor on the left. The left return has a lean-to providing inglenook seating to the billiard room fireplace. The service wing has a mix of sashes and casements and features an axial stack with an attached bellcote.

Inside, the house has early 20th-century fittings, including oak panelling in the principal rooms, bolection-moulded chimney-pieces and fielded-panel doors. The service wing retains its original character, with a butler’s pantry, servants' hall and kitchen.

Avalon, formerly named Meopham Bank, was the home of John Herring, a popular 19th-century genre painter, from 1853 to 1865.