Danemore Park

A house dating to the 1830s, possibly built in two phases, is located on Langton Road, Speldhurst. The exterior is rendered to resemble stone ashlar, with a slate roof and rendered chimney shafts (some now missing).

The house faces northeast and has a rectangular plan, approximately double-depth and four rooms wide. The main range is three rooms wide, with a service wing attached to the south. The simpler details of the service wing may represent an earlier phase or indicate a lower status for that part of the building. The main entrance, on the east front, leads into the central room of the main block, which contains the staircase. Principal rooms are heated by three axial stacks, one on the right end, while the service wing has a stack on the left (south) end.

The house has two storeys with a cellar beneath part of the service wing. The main block features elaborate classical details in the render, with ground floor bays divided by pilasters (some paired), a moulded cornice at first floor level, and a deep platband imitating a parapet. Quoins are rusticated at the angles of the first floor. Deep eaves extend from the main block, supported by scroll-shaped brackets. The asymmetrical front has a 1:3:1:2 bay arrangement, with a bay of the service wing on the left, a projecting single-storey canted bay on the right, the entrance block features one bay, and two bays on the left. The rendered entablature of the main block continues as the entablature of the porch, which has Tuscan columns in antis and a parapet topped by pineapple finials. The original front door is a tall, glazed four-panel design with an overlight and an ornamental grille behind the glazed panels. The ground floor windows of the main block are two-pane, horned sash windows, with the two right-hand windows having valances for external blinds. The three first floor windows of the main block are similarly glazed with rendered projecting architraves. The service wing on the left has a ground floor and first floor tripartite sash window with vertical margin panes, shutters, and rendered architraves. A continuous sill band runs below the ground floor windows, and a moulded band is positioned at first floor level. The chimney stacks are rendered, displaying projecting cornices above a modillion frieze and 19th-century flared chimney pots. Other elevations include a two-storey canted bay on the north side, with a panel displaying armorial bearings on the first floor, and tall tripartite sashes on the west elevation. An external bell is fixed to the south wall of the service wing.

The interior is largely intact, including a good open string staircase with slender turned balusters, a mahogany handrail, and a curtail step. Panelled doors and moulded plaster cornices are also present.

This is a well-preserved gentleman’s villa dating to the 19th century and exhibiting excellent classical detailing.