Gunstone House

Gunstone House is an early to mid-19th century house. The exterior is stuccoed over a rubble base, with rubble stacks incorporating brick chimney shafts and a slate roof. The house is gable-ended, originally consisting of two rooms, extended to a double depth with a rear pitch extending over single-storey rear rooms. It has a central stairhall plan. Gable-end stacks are present, along with an axial stack to the left of centre and a lateral kitchen stack to the rear. The symmetrical front elevation has five windows and is faced with incised stucco to resemble ashlar. It features 20-pane sashes on the ground floor and 16-pane sashes on the first floor. A central six-panel door is within a Tuscan doorcase. A mid-19th century glass-roofed verandah extends across the front, articulated by hip-roofed conservatories projecting slightly at each end and a central projection over the door. The conservatories are timber-framed with panelling below a three-window front, a large central four-pane, round-headed window flanked by smaller round-headed windows. The verandah features cast-iron scrollwork spandrel brackets springing from posts listed as pairs, forming round-headed open arches with pierced panels above and closed dados below. Timber gutter brackets are also present. A massive kitchen stack is located to the rear, with a 16-pane sash window in the kitchen itself, while other rear windows are casements. A service door on the left side has a rusticated stucco surround. The interior retains much of the original joinery and plasterwork. The name "Gunstone House" reflects the survival of a distinct medieval estate of Gunstan recorded in 1340. Records from 1631 indicate that the manor of Gunstone was then held by the Reynells family.