Levylsdene House

Levylsdene House is a house, representing the remains of a larger mansion. It dates to the mid- to late 16th century, with alterations from the 17th and 18th centuries, and a 20th-century extension to the left side. The house has a timber-framed core, now clad in knapped flint rubble with brick quoins and dressings on the right, and brick on the left. The roof is tiled, with a hipped form to the left. The building follows an L-shaped plan. It is two stories high with an attic, featuring a plat band above the ground floor and a brick cornice above the first floor. There is an offset stack on the left and a front-end stack on the right, together with a bonnet hip roof. A half-dormer casement window is present on the left side. The right side has a brick eaves cornice, with corbelling. Early 18th-century angled-head glazing-bar sashes are set into the first floor to the left, the upper glazing bars radiating. Two similar windows, with diamond-pane leaded glazing, are situated on the ground floor. All windows are within gauged-brick surrounds. A blocked window is visible in the centre of the first floor, featuring a decorative cross-shaped panel made of knapped flint. Central double doors lead to the ground floor, glazed under a cambered head, and sheltered by a flat hood on brackets. A single mullioned cross window is on the first floor to the right, under a gauged-brick surround with a keystone. A pent-roofed ground-floor element has a diamond-pane window and a glazed door. A 20th-century brick extension projects to the left end and is not considered of particular interest. The return front to the right has a gable lit attic with two diamond-pane windows on the second floor and one first-floor window which breaks through the plat band. The rear elevation has been rebuilt in 20th-century brick and tile hanging. The ground floor sitting room contains panelling of varying dates, including some 20th-century sections, and a mantelpiece with portrait head panels in the 16th-century style. A first-floor room has 17th-century panelling, which may have originated from Old Clandon House. A staircase, also possibly from Clandon House, features open strapwork decorated panels, spherical finials and pendants to the newels. In the 18th century, the house was occupied by Arthur Onslow, Speaker of the House of Commons, and from 1757 to 1759 it was leased by Admiral Boscawen while his house was being built nearby at Hatchlands.