The Folly

The Folly is an early 19th-century villa in late Regency style, built or substantially remodelled around 1830, with the architect unknown. The house has undergone only minor later alterations and represents a well-preserved example of early 19th-century suburban villa architecture.

The building is constructed largely of painted brick beneath a low hipped slate roof. It follows a rectangular plan with a double-pile internal arrangement. The main façade is broadly symmetrical across three bays at two storeys. Although outwardly of unified design, the exposed left gable wall reveals evidence of earlier phases incorporated into the structure. Several bricks dated to the 1750s and 1760s are set into the right-hand gable wall, likely reset during the early 19th-century rebuild. A brick stamped "Ferguson 1805 [or 1809]" appears high on the gable wall, though the complex structural history of the gable and lower rear wall suggests this date may not represent the building as it survives. The service end to the left may be a slightly later addition than the main house.

The principal elevation displays three eight-over-eight pane unhorned sash windows with slender glazing bars to the first floor. The ground floor contains an identical eight-over-eight window to the left and a larger ten-over-ten pane sash window to the right. All windows have stone sills and brick flat-arched heads. The central entrance comprises a six-panelled door with fanlight, set behind an original decorative wrought-iron porch with concave lead roof. Some porch panels were replaced in the later 20th century. To the left, slightly set back, stands a short two-storey service range with twelve-pane sash windows and a cantilevered gable to its first floor, served by a side door. The shallow-pitched hipped slate roof extends over this service end. Tall narrow chimney stacks rise through the sides of the main roof—one to the left and two to the right—with a further stack rising from the service end.

The rear elevation is distinguished by a string course running beneath first-floor sill level and a ground-floor plinth. A full-length canopy runs above the ground-floor windows, its zinc covering recently replaced. The central door and French doors flanking it provide access to the garden. The first floor is lit by six-over-six pane sash windows smaller than those to the front: two to the left and one to the right, with the third bay occupied by a long window lighting the stairs.

The interior is arranged around a central hall flanked by two front and two rear rooms. Panelled doors, skirting boards, plaster cornices and other original features survive throughout. The fireplaces are largely mid to late 19th-century marble replacements in simple classical style. The front-left dining room and front-right service room both have windows with wooden shutters rising from beneath hinged sills. The rear windows to the living and morning rooms have conventional folding shutters. The original dogleg staircase features stick balusters and mahogany rail, lit by the long rear window. The first-floor bedrooms open from a hall running axially through the building; most original woodwork and fire surrounds remain.

The Folly is believed to have been built or rebuilt in the earlier 19th century by the Fergusons, a family of Reading brewers. In the mid to late 19th century, extensive pleasure grounds extending to upwards of three acres were laid out in the rear garden, with shrubberies and specimen trees, many of which survive and are now protected by Tree Preservation Orders. A surviving oak avenue once led from the house to a now-lost folly, which is believed to be the origin of the main house's name. The building stands opposite Woodcote's listed parish church and adjacent to a grade II mid-late 18th-century barn, making it a considerable contributor to the character of this part of the village.