Kingston Lisle House

Kingston Lisle House is a country house of considerable architectural interest, built in stages over more than 150 years. A datestone above the rear door of the central block records the initials G.H. and the date 1677, indicating the original construction. The front was substantially renewed around 1720, side wings were added around 1812, and the garden front was remodelled around 1825.

The main structure consists of a double-pile central block of two storeys and attic, flanked by later side wings. The rendered walls are topped by a stone slate roof, with Welsh slate covering part of the central block roof. Rendered chimney stacks rise from the structure.

The front elevation of the central block presents a seven-window range with a pediment over the central three bays. The original central arched doorway features a Gibbs surround, now filled by an early 19th-century sash window. Ground floor windows have keystones to their semi-circular arches, whilst the first floor displays tall sashes with keystones and a window directly over the door whose keystone rises to touch the cornice of the pediment. Three horizontal stone bands mark the storey levels and run below the parapet, which is punctuated by corner urns. A keyed lunette fills the pediment's tympanum, and antifixae ornament the parapet corners.

The side wings are two storeys high with a three-window range of sashes. Ground floor windows feature keystones and imposts to semi-circular heads. A porch of around 1960 has been added to the right side of the left wing, housing panelled double-leaf doors. A moulded wood cornice runs along the wings, which are topped by hipped roofs to the centre block and ridge stacks to the side wings, all with moulded caps.

The garden front, remodelled around 1825, displays a 2:3:2 window range of tripartite sashes, each with brackets supporting a floating cornice. Three 20th-century French windows open to the right side. The three-bay side walls include a semicircular bay window on the left with three sashes to each floor. At the angle between the rear of the side wing and the left wall of the central block, a projection topped by a semi-circular arch contains a large ten-pane window lighting the central passage; a blind alcove beneath holds a statue of a putto playing a flute, and a modillioned cornice runs above.

The interior retains bolection-moulded panelling to ground and first floor rooms at the rear right, whilst the former hall in the centre front preserves Rococo plasterwork on its ceiling. Most other interior features date from around 1825 to 1830. All original doors and fittings survive; the fireplaces, except those in the centre rear room, the room in the left wing, and the first floor rear right room, were brought from London around 1950.

The entrance passage to the left is imposing, with fluted Doric pilasters supporting a coffered tunnel vault that terminates in a large lighted bay. This bay features grouped fluted Doric pilasters carrying a vault with unusual fans in the corners. A large passage to the right leads through various spaces to the staircase. The first section contains six-panelled doors set in blind arches, caryatids supported by a projecting cornice, and fans in the ceiling corners. The next space is entered through an arch articulated by Doric columns and pilasters with grouped caryatids on the cornice. Beyond lies an oblong groin vault, followed at the end of the range by a half-vault with fans. An open-well staircase with two flights boldly flying over the hall features wrought-iron balusters with S-scroll decoration.

A late 20th-century loggia at the rear right incorporates a reset datestone of 1677. To its right, a covered passage supported by columns connects the service area to a passage running through the early 19th-century servants' hall, built chiefly in Flemish bond brick with a Welsh slate roof and brick stack. Two Diocletian windows with limestone keys and imposts light the left wall, and a semicircular one-storey bay window stands to the rear. A moulded wood cornice and hipped roof with lateral stack complete the structure. Attached to the rear right of the main house, a wall of brick on one side and stone on the other is carried over a semi-circular arch with an iron gate; a small early 19th-century block with two Diocletian windows adjoins the rear wall. To the front left of the servants' hall stands a brick wall extending to the garden, with a semi-circular arch over an iron fan and gate to the left.

Little is documented about the architectural history of this house. The side wings were certainly built by the Lechlade builders Richard Pace and Son, commissioned by the then owner Edwin Martin-Atkins (1778-1825). Architectural historian Marcus Binney has suggested that Atkins himself, rather than Basevi or Cockerell, may have been the architect of the principal remodelling.