Durbins, including the summerhouse

Durbins, including the summerhouse

House built between 1908 and 1909 to the design of the artist Roger Fry for his family. The building is constructed of colour-washed render with red brick and ashlar dressings, and slate roof coverings.

The house is designed to an L-shaped plan. Entry is at mid-level into an entrance hall containing a staircase that descends a half-storey to a double-height galleried living hall (known as the 'house-place') flanked by a study and a former children's playroom (now lounge), and ascends a half-storey to a kitchen with pantry, scullery and larder, a breakfast room, a former artist's studio/study (now lounge) and a dining room. The attic storey contains six bedrooms, two bathrooms and a former chapel room now subdivided into two rooms.

The south garden front forms the principal façade in a symmetrical composition of five bays. The first three bays project forward and are framed by engaged red brick piers topped by stone urns above the cornice. At the centre stands a moulded ashlar doorcase with projecting keystone and cornice containing an eight-panelled door, above which is a red tile and stone chequerboard panel and a 25-pane sash window. This is flanked by two exceptionally tall windows, each with a lower sash of 40 panes and an upper fixed window of 20 panes. The two outer bays feature two French windows of 18 panes with shutters on the ground floor, and paired sashes of 18 panes with Venetian shutters on the first floor. A dentilled eaves cornice separates the first floor from the attic storey, which has a mansard roof with four dormer windows containing paired sashes. Two rendered chimney stacks rise above the roof.

Attached to the east end of the south front is a summerhouse, open on two sides and resting on round rubbed-brick columns beneath a slate-covered pyramidal roof. One wall bears an incomplete polychromatic mosaic of two badminton players by Roger Fry and Duncan Grant.

The west elevation has two bays: a boarded doorway and small casement window with a sash window bearing Venetian shutters on the ground floor, and a single sash at the south end of the first floor beneath two dormer windows. The north-west rear elevation, a half-storey shorter than the garden front, contains the main entrance at the centre of the interior angle. This features a half-glazed door of 20 small panes beneath a cantilevered canopy partially supported by iron scrollwork, with a three-light fixed window above. To the left is a casement window, and to the right are one small sash and one large paired sash. The attic storey has two paired sash windows, one single sash and a tall rendered chimney stack. The north elevation includes a lean-to containing the main service door approached by brick steps and flanked by a sash window, and a flat-roofed weather-boarded extension with a boarded door and fixed window. The east elevation, four bays long and built into the slope, has one floor level of sashes and casement windows beneath the attic storey, which contains four dormer windows.

Internally, the entrance hall contains a timber staircase with an arched screen bearing a mural of nude figures by Roger Fry, Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant. The arches' intradoses were originally painted as part of this scheme and may survive beneath later paintwork. The staircase has a timber handrail, square newel posts and stick balusters.

The double-height living hall has a herringbone parquet floor, a fireplace with a later reproduction wooden surround, a dumb waiter and cast-iron radiators. The parquet flooring continues into the flanking study and former children's playroom, both with fireplaces and cast-iron radiators. A first-floor open gallery overlooks the living hall and leads to Roger Fry's former studio/study, which has a brick fireplace with a moulded wooden surround. By 1954, the studio had been partitioned to contain a bathroom at its north end. Adjacent to the studio doorway is another bathroom with a trap door opening to a storeroom below. The dining room flanks the living hall at first-floor level and contains a fireplace and wooden floor.

The kitchen at the north end of the first floor is accompanied by a pantry, larder and scullery, with a breakfast room nearby. An original servant bell indicator board by Bowden and Higlett of Guildford is located in the kitchen. An early 20th-century basin stands in the pantry, and another early 20th-century basin with fitted cupboards is in the scullery. The former breakfast room contains an original fireplace and fitted cupboards.

The attic level has six bedrooms, two bathrooms and a former chapel room now subdivided into two rooms, all accessed from a central landing. These rooms contain fireplaces with wooden surrounds and cast-iron radiators. Original doors with brass door furniture and original joinery—including skirtings, picture rails and coving—survive throughout most of the house.

Late 20th-century and early 21st-century fixtures and fittings in the bathrooms, kitchen and associated rooms (pantry and scullery) are excluded from the listing's special interest. However, works to these structures and features that may affect the character of the listed building may still require Listed Building Consent.