Devan Haye

Devan Haye is a two-storey house built in 1889 to a design by William Cooper of London. The building is constructed of timber and corrugated iron on a rubble stone and brick basement foundation with brick plinth.

The house follows a double depth square plan with a central hallway flanked by principal rooms on either side. The garden elevation comprises three bays with wrap-around verandas at both ground and first-floor levels. A central entrance porch is flanked by bay windows, though the left-hand side has been modified by the insertion of a fireplace with an external brick chimney stack. The first floor features three bay windows. The veranda is supported by simple squared and lightly chamfered timber posts with handrails and occasional simple turned baluster shafts. Decorative bargeboards adorn the gabled roof, which is fitted with two louvered and gabled vents. The rear elevation displays a single-storey pent outshut with a central porch and service rooms to either side. The rear porch contains encaustic tiles and original panelled timber doors with side glazing. Rear fenestration is a mixture of original timber casements and UPVC. The left elevation has three bays with verandas to ground and first-floor levels, featuring original timber casements and French windows. Much of the original cast iron rainwater goods survive.

Internally, the ground floor contains two reception rooms to the left of the central hallway (now knocked into one) and two further reception rooms to the right. The staircase is located at the rear, with the kitchen opposite. The majority of original joinery survives throughout, including four-panelled timber doors in all rooms except the interior porch doors, which feature half glazing with diagonal timber panels on the lower half. The staircase is a simple dog-leg type with half landings, a turned newel post with pendants, and block and vase turned balusters. Tongue and groove panelling appears on walls and ceilings in the kitchens and utility rooms, which retain built-in cupboards. The entrance hall features encaustic polychrome tiles bearing the legend "the bungalow" and original anaglypta wall coverings with three different raised patterns. A cast iron radiator and heating system survive. The first floor contains four bedrooms, a bathroom, and a separate lavatory, one bedroom having been enlarged by removal of an interior partition.

The house was built in 1889 for a local chemist and property developer. It was purchased from William Cooper of Old Kent Road, London and is believed to have been transported to Sherborne by train. Its design corresponds to one illustrated in the company's catalogue and cost just over £350. The property originally included a separate two-storey servant accommodation and stable block, now demolished. Devan Haye represents a particular type of convenience housing developed largely for export to British colonies and beyond, with many thousands of similar buildings erected throughout the Empire and in rapidly expanding Victorian suburbs. Corrugated iron buildings served numerous purposes including churches, chapels, meeting rooms, workshops, storage facilities, and domestic residences. The building is believed to be the earliest known surviving two-storey domestic residence constructed of corrugated iron and possibly a unique survivor in Britain. It survives substantially intact with its plan little altered and retains much of its original interior joinery, demonstrating the elegance and architectural quality achievable in prefabricated buildings at the height of their popularity.