Wilsford House

Wilsford House is a country house dating from 1904 to 1906, designed by Detmar Blow for Sir Edward Tennant (Lord Glenconnor). The construction incorporates flint and chalkstone in a chequerwork pattern, with stone slate roofs. A rear wing features similar chequerwork, but is more irregular and has a thatched roof. The house has two storeys and a tall attic storey, arranged on a rectangular plan with an inset section on the north-west and a single-storey service wing to the north-east on the entrance side. Each facade is punctuated by three steeply pitched, moulded gables that terminate in trefoiled finials to the attic storey. The north-west facade has a low, six-panelled door with a monolithic lintel inscribed "ET 1906", and a three-light overlight, flanked by windows recessed within the central section. Four-light stone-mullioned and transomed windows with rebated chamfers are present throughout the building, lacking labels. The south-west front features a central oriel with a central, half-round glazed light above a secondary entrance. The south-east front has a half-glazed panelled door and a segmental canopy supported on carved consoles. Ashlar stacks are also a feature. The service wing shows irregular window placement and three flush dormers.

Inside, the north-west entrance door opens to a large reception hall, which leads to an open-well staircase of late 17th-century design. This grand structure is constructed of limed oak and is said to have been reconstructed from an imported staircase, featuring a heavy handrail and baluster newels. Shallow arches with finials are also present. The dining room to the right of the hall has a coved ceiling and a marble fireplace. A corridor to the south has groined plaster vaults. Rooms along the south-east front also contain marble fireplaces. A secondary, spiral staircase exhibits counter-turned spiral balusters, also in limed oak, and varied panelling. First-floor rooms are characterized by cornices and marble fireplaces. The attics are constructed with heavy, quasi-crucks and king posts of oak, set at right angles at each corner of the building, providing circulation from the top of the main staircase. Wall construction is approximately 1 meter thick, supporting solid floors, potentially constructed of fire-resisting concrete, similar to Happisburgh House.

Wilsford House represents one of the few relatively unaltered works by Detmar Blow. It exemplifies his careful and finely detailed design. The house was inherited by the Hon. Stephen Tennant in 1927, and subsequently decorated by him and his circle, which included E.M. Forster, Virginia Woolf, and Siegfried Sassoon, creating a unique and splendid reflection of the man and his times.