Rainbow Wood House

Rainbow Wood House

Rainbow Wood House is a substantial residential dwelling of Neo-Jacobean design, constructed in 1897 (as recorded on the date stone bearing the initials "W F M"). It is built of Bath stone with Combe Downe stone dressings to the exterior and Corsham stone for internal stonework. The roof is clay tile with ashlar stone stacks. The interior contains a variety of timber fittings, including oak panelling.

The building is constructed on an L-plan. The principal range faces north and is three bays wide on an east-west orientation, containing a central reception hall and stair. A service wing extends northwards from the left side, attached to a former stable and garage at its north end. Further garaging is attached to the east of the former stable, with store buildings to its north, creating a courtyard. The south-east corner of the main house contains a two-bay kitchen and study.

The two-storey north façade, facing a forecourt, demonstrates the Neo-Jacobean style with stone-mullioned casements and stone gables featuring decorative kneelers and stone ball finials. The central bay contains the principal entrance, set within a classical stone doorcase with Doric pilasters standing on rectangular plinths with diamond relief work. Above the cornice are stone obelisk finials with stone strapwork between them. The bay to the right is set back with two-light casements to each floor, whilst the bay to the left is set further back with a two-light casement to the ground floor and a four-light stair casement to the first floor. Above the ground-floor windows is a projecting stone band forming the cornice of the central door. The upper-left opening has a drip mould with diamond stops and a central carved head, possibly representing a green man. Below the second-floor cornice is a stone scallop shell detail. At upper level is a gabled parapet bearing the date stone, with stone obelisk finials and stone strapwork. The parapet becomes an arcaded balustrade to the right bay.

At the junction between the façade and service wing is a single-storey round bay window with a conical roof and three casements. To the rear of the frontage, in line with the left bay, are two wide stone gables with oculus ventilator openings.

The west front has four-light casements to the left and three-light casements to the right, both under gables with ventilator openings. The south garden front has three bays under gables, with the central bay containing four-light casements to each floor. The left and right bays have three-light casements to the first floor and canted bays to the ground floor. Between the gables at upper level are short sections of oversailing eaves connecting with rainwater downpipes and hopperheads. To the right is a single-storey extension of 1937, built of Bath stone with a door to the left and a three-light casement to the right.

The east elevation comprises the service wing, of plainer design with undecorated gables and stone casements, and an attic floor. Attached to the north is a single-storey scullery range with double-pitched gabled roofs. Across the courtyard are single-storey outbuildings and an early-twentieth-century garage constructed of stone with a glass lantern roof. The north end of the former stable block has a four-light casement to the first floor and some disturbed stonework to the ground floor. To the left is the entrance to the early-twentieth-century garage, with wide sliding doors, a casement to either side, and a balustrade above with ball finials and an eagle statue. The west front of the former stables has an irregular arrangement of mullioned casements under drip moulds to the ground floor and under a central gable to the first floor. The west front of the service wing has two bays of regularly spaced three-light casements to two floors and an attic storey. To the left is a service entrance with an internal porch supported on Doric columns.

Interior

The main entrance leads into an internal porch and vestibule with a cloakroom and bathroom to the right. The ground floor retains original doors and door furniture throughout. To the left is the reception hall with a marble fireplace and oak panelling. The open-well staircase is constructed of a variety of timber types. It has a wreathed handrail with inlay and decorative balusters arranged as two twisted to one column-on-vase. To the left of the fireplace is the dining room with marble chimneypiece and decorative plaster ceiling. To the right of the stair is the Oak Room, formerly the Morning Room and Inner Hall. The walls are lined with decorative oak panelling and the stone chimneypiece has a carved oak mantelpiece and overmantel. This room and the neighbouring drawing room have decorative plasterwork to the ceilings and ornate hanging light fittings. The Drawing Room has an elaborate plaster door surround and hand-worked mahogany doors, with an Adam-style chimneypiece.

The kitchen areas have been reordered and refurbished in the twentieth century, and the former main kitchen is now a breakfast room. Two doorways lead through to the service wing. The back stair has column-on-vase balusters and a square newel post. A servant bell panel is fixed to the wall. A corridor leads to former pantry and store areas in their original proportions with some fitted cupboards. Beyond are the workshop and garaging, which have no historic fittings of note.

The main stair has a coved, ornamental plaster ceiling and a gallery to bedrooms with a carved balustrade. The bedrooms contain a mixture of Adam-style and marble fireplaces, and some have plain cornices. Two rooms have been partitioned to create en-suite bathrooms. The doors retain original door furniture. On the half-landing of the stair is a doorway to the service wing and back stair. Two rooms accessed along a corridor have been converted to a kitchen and sitting room. A doorway at the end of the corridor leads to the Billiard Room, with oak panelling, ornate plaster ceiling, and a stone fireplace with a carved oak mantel and overmantel. The service wing has an attic floor with no historic fittings of note.

A stone garden balustrade encircles the north front forecourt and the west front, featuring squat vase balusters and carved rectangular piers, with some decorative stone planters. It extends south via a ramped section to enclose part of the rear garden and adjoins a low wall and stone steps down to the lawn from the house.