Queen Anne House With Boundary Wall And Gate Piers

This is a detached Queen Anne house, likely built in the early 18th century, probably for a member of the Gilbert family, who were quarry owners. It is believed that Thomas Gilbert, the designer of St. George Church in Reforne, may have been involved in its design, although it incorporates fragments of earlier work at the rear. The house is constructed of Portland ashlar, with some areas of squared and coursed stone. It has a slate roof on the front slope and a tile roof on the rear slope.

The house is two storeys high, with a basement and attic, and has five windows on the front facade. There are three flat-roofed dormers with slate cheeks and 2-light, 4-paned casement windows in these dormers. The first-floor sash windows are set within flat band surrounds on stooled cills, with small aprons below. Ground-floor windows are framed by Gibbsian surrounds, featuring bold projecting voussoirs on moulded cills that support brackets. The basement windows are 2-light casements, set under a string course, with a rougher stone wall. A 3-panelled door with small panes of glass and a rosette is set within a Gibbsian surround, topped with a cornice hood. Stone stacks with plain band capping are present on each gable, with raised verges to the kneelers. The gable ends are plain, with a single small light on the right end. A long, single-storey extension to the right is not considered to be of particular architectural interest.

The rear of the house includes an early 19th century 16-pane sash window and two blind windows. The interior features an entrance hall with a panelled coffered ceiling and a dog-leg staircase with a shaped open string and a heavy moulded handrail on turned balusters. A separate staircase to the basement has open fret balustrading and a section of swept handrail. The main ground-floor room on the left is fully panelled, with window shutters, two cupboard niches in the back wall, a moulded cornice, and a plain fire surround in a simplified Rococo style. A room below has a wide ingle fireplace with a large stone bressumer, which is cracked in the centre, alongside the remains of a bread oven. A section of thick-walled construction at the rear of the house, thought to be from an earlier structure, features stone cheeks in an inner lobby flanking a basement-level door, and deep embrasured openings.

The property is enclosed by a low boundary wall with weathered coping, stepped across the front. A pair of square gate piers with pyramid cappings and stone balls are present at the bridge leading to the front door. Concrete block bridge parapets are also present. A smaller square pier is located at the left end. The house is considered the finest and most complete example of its period on the island, reflecting the increased profits from the Portland stone industry.