Corfe Hill House

Corfe Hill House is a country house dating from 1821, commissioned for Edward Balston. It is built of yellow brickwork with rendered sections, and has slate roofs. The main part of the house is a substantial square block, with a large service range to the west. Inside, a square entrance lobby leads to a grand open-well staircase, flanked by two rooms on each side.

The front of the house has two storeys and three windows. The upper floor has wide 12-pane sash windows, beneath deeper 12-pane windows on the ground floor. A central, flat-roofed portico with Portland stone Roman Doric columns and five steps leads to a panelled front door, which is set within a flat elliptical arch containing a semicircular fanlight. The Portland stone plinth rises to ground-floor level, and is topped by a moulded cornice and parapet. A large central stack is built of yellow brick. The south front is rendered and features two large 12-pane sashes and a smaller central light at each floor, alongside a projecting lean-to conservatory. The north front has 12-paned sash windows, with an additional painted-in sash at the first floor. The large service range is three floors high with a hipped roof and plain eaves. It has 16-pane sashes at the first and second floors, and 20-pane sashes to the ground floor. A low wall connects to an outbuilding beyond a service yard on the west side.

The interior, inspected only on the ground floor, previously comprised several apartments but is now in single ownership. The entrance lobby features a moulded ceiling cornice with a central rosette, and opens to the staircase hall through glazed doors with side panels and a fanlight matching the porch. The stone-floored hall is dominated by a grand stone staircase with a flush soffit, wrought-iron balustrade, and polished hardwood handrail, and moulded cornice. The panelled doors have reeded doorcases with paterae. Principal reception rooms have moulded cornices, and the marble fireplaces are imported. Original or repaired panelled shutters remain to the ground floor windows. This elegant house is notable for the way all flues are grouped to the central stack. It occupies a commanding position on a hilltop overlooking the village.