Lee Place

Lee Place is a small country house, probably dating from around 1640, that was extensively remodelled in the 1720s, possibly by James Gibbs, with minor later additions and alterations. It is built of coursed squared limestone rubble with ashlar dressings and has a stone slate roof with ashlar chimneys.

The house is arranged in an irregular L-plan. The original 17th-century house occupies the centre of the main south-west front with a contemporary range extending to the rear. Two pavilions were added to the north-west and south-east during the early 18th century.

The main front presents a symmetrical composition. The central 17th-century block rises two storeys with an attic, containing a five-window range. The three central bays are defined by 18th-century pilasters rising to a pediment, with the whole flanked by single storey pavilions, each with a hipped roof. The central part-glazed door has a triangular pediment on Ionic half-columns. Ground and first floor windows are glazing bar sashes set in moulded stone architraves. The pediment over the three central bays contains a Diocletian window with glazing bars. Hipped dormers to either side have casements with glazing bars. Gable end stacks rise above, with triple shafts to the right and twin shafts to the left. Each flanking pavilion features a Venetian window with glazing bar sashes and single glazing bar sash windows in moulded architraves within canted end bays. A sill band defines the plinth, and a simple moulded cornice runs under the parapet, which is topped with five ball finials on each pavilion. Lead rainwater goods are present throughout.

The tall rear 17th-century range to the left contains single, double and triple-shafted ashlar stacks. Its scattered fenestration includes two cross casements with leaded lights and two sashes with thick glazing bars on the ground and first floors. The irregular rear elevation contains large and small pane sashes. A projecting service wing dated 1848 has irregular fenestration including dormers and half-dormers. A 20th-century range of three windows extends from the left.

The interior is now entered through a 20th-century porch to the rear, leading via an entrance hall to the suite of principal rooms along the main garden front. The entrance hall retains full-height raised and fielded panelling, six-panelled doors with moulded architraves, and a fireplace with lugged architrave beneath a painting of a Dutch river scene fitted to the chimneypiece.

The garden room was formed in the early 18th century within the original 17th-century house, probably functioning originally as an entrance hall. It features a marble floor and richly moulded plasterwork over a cross-beamed ceiling. Doors and window shutters have raised and fielded panels; dado panelling was added later. A fine early 18th-century fireplace displays hunting scenes.

The dining room contains a fine Rococo plaster ceiling dating from around 1740 to 1750. Simulated double-leaf doors are set in moulded architraves, while window shutters are decorated with egg and dart ornament. An Adam-style fireplace with a relief of nine muses was introduced in the 20th century.

The sitting room has moulded plaster over a cross-beamed ceiling, a six-panelled door with deep panelled reveals, panelled window shutters, and a marble fireplace with lugged architrave. The drawing room, now entered from the sitting room, features an elaborate chimneypiece framing a landscape painting with scrolled pediment and doorcases with moulded architraves and pediments on consoles. The ceiling is plain with a modillioned cornice.

An early 18th-century doorleg staircase with bulbous turned balusters and pulvinated string leads from the rear stair hall to the first floor. Bedrooms retain 18th-century fireplaces, some with 19th-century grates, and preserve original fittings including doors and some panelling. The ground floor of the 17th-century rear wing contains a Tudor arched fireplace with plain spandrels.