Woodhambury And Woodbrow And Attached Garden Terraces

House, built in 1889 by WF Unsworth for himself in the Vernacular Revival manner. The building was divided into two dwellings (Woodhambury and Woodbrow) in the 1950s.

The house is constructed of deep shallow red brick laid in Flemish bond, with pebble-dash rendered upper floors. The gables are tile-hung and sit beneath red plain tile roofs which are half-hipped at the north-east end. The plan is long and low-slung, overlooking terraced gardens on the south-east front. The principal rooms are single-room deep, with the dining room and drawing room positioned either side of an entrance and staircase hall. Services are located at the north-east end. The gabled bay contains the former billiard room, lit by windows on both elevations. When the house was divided in the 1950s, the first and upper floor landings were truncated and Woodbrow received an inserted or replaced staircase.

The entrance front is asymmetrical with strong horizontal lines created by small irregularly placed windows. The front door, positioned toward the northern end, is flanked by narrow vertical windows with shaped heads. The door is of oak plank and frame construction with ornate iron hinges. The upper floor and gabled bay are jettied with a moulded bressumer; the gabled bay sits on plain first floor brackets. Ground floor windows are three-light casements with shutters on strap hinges. The gable bay features a six-light mullion and transom ground floor window, while the first floor has a pair of two-light casements under a single shallow drip mould and the attic contains a three-light window. The gable is hung in fishscale tiles with a band of plain tiles at the base. Windows throughout are single, two, three and four-light casements in oak frames with metal framed lights containing rectangular leaded panes and ornate ironmongery. The landing window over the entrance is canted as a small oriel window supported on timber brackets. Above each three-light first floor window is a three-light dormer under a half-hipped tile roof. Tall brick stacks with grouped shafts and moulded caps are positioned just below the ridge.

The garden front features a three-bay verandah on moulded timber shafts flanked by square bays with mullion and transom windows, which on the dining room side wrap around the bay. All sit beneath a continuous tile roof with exposed rafter feet. At the rear of the verandah are casement windows with moulded canopies and part-glazed doors with plain lower panels. The floor is paved in brick. First floor windows are asymmetrically arranged leaded casements with three dormers above—the central dormer gable has shaped bargeboards while the outer dormers are half-hipped. The gabled bay mirrors the front elevation with a ground floor mullion and transom window, a first floor oriel similar to that over the front door, and a comparable gable. Brickwork on the garden front suggests alterations were made, probably in the early 20th century. The south-west gable wall has paired gabled roofs each with a single casement over two-light first floor windows. The north-east gable wall is half-hipped and tile-hung with small first floor and gable windows.

The verandah leads to brick-paved terraces which are believed to have formed part of Unsworth's original design for the house and grounds. The upper levels remain intact with their original paved and brick surfaces and brick retaining walls. The terraces connected the house to the gardens which, as documented in early photographs, originally extended to the canal. The lower level terrace is added or altered and is excluded from the listing.

Internally, the hall contains an oak and softwood framed staircase behind an arcade of moulded posts with plain spandrels. The stair has turned newels and balusters and a moulded oak rail. From first floor to attic, the stair balustrade is similar with square newels, turned balusters and a moulded rail. The rear of the front door is in twelve panels with a central hinged letterbox. Hall floors are of wood block with a dark wood fillet.

The dining room is fully lined in oak in small panels beneath a dentil cornice, including the doors and window panels. The ceiling has a quarter moulded cornice and chamfered beams. The fireplace is of moulded stone with brick linings. A panelled hatch and counter opens onto the kitchen, where the rear is similarly panelled. Doors have elaborate brass fittings.

The sitting room has a large inglenook chimneypiece in a moulded architrave with a deep dentil cornice and moulded stone fireplace. Ceiling mouldings are similar. Ground floor doors are of seven panels, many with brass fittings.

The billiard room has exposed boxed beams and chamfered joists, a stone moulded fireplace similar to those in the main house, and similarly panelled doors and door furniture. The adjoining room, probably remodelled after the house was subdivided, has light classical mouldings and a fireplace.

At first floor level, landings have been truncated and some rooms reconfigured. Rooms retain fireplaces with eared architraves, cornices and three-panel doors. Attic rooms have cast iron fireplaces and grates; doors are two-panelled. Windows internally have moulded mullions and deep cills.

WF Unsworth (1851–1912) was an architect who designed several buildings in the area including Christ Church Woking (1889, Grade II), All Saints Woodham (1893, Grade II) and worked on the Church of St Mary the Virgin Woking (Grade II*). His early work, such as the French Gothic-inspired Shakespeare Memorial Theatre and Library at Stratford-upon-Avon, reflected his training with GE Street and William Burges. He established independent practice in 1875, initially in partnership with EJ Dodgshun (1854–1927), after which he moved towards the traditional ideas of the Vernacular Revival. Towards the end of his career he worked in partnership with his son Gerald Unsworth and landscape designer Inigo Triggs. Unsworth was keenly interested in garden planning, which he considered an essential component of house design, expressed in his own garden at Restalls, Steep. His obituary noted the chapel of King's School Warwick, Rossall School Chapel, houses at Harrogate and Burnham, and other works. Listed examples of his work include the medieval church of St Mary Runwell, Essex (Grade I), his own home Restalls, and Ashford Chance, both in Steep near Petersfield and both Grade II.

The brick-paved terraces attached to the house remain an integral part of the design, demonstrating Unsworth's philosophy of connecting a house to its setting through thoughtful landscape integration. Although divided into two dwellings in the 1950s, the building retains sufficient integrity to reflect the original plan and purpose, and includes particularly good interior fittings.