Highstones

Highstones

House built in 1913 to a design by architect Thomas Falconer for J. Miles.

The building is constructed of brick, covered with roughcast, with tiled roofs and tall chimney stacks rendered with brick above—one placed centrally and one at each end. All original metal-framed windows with leaded lights and decorative wrought-iron catches survive, set within stone mullioned openings.

The house follows a butterfly plan on a north-west to south-east axis, built over two storeys. The central entrance faces south-west, enclosed by angled wings to either side, with the southern range extending eastwards to provide additional south-facing rooms. A further extension extends to the north face of the north wing.

The entrance is set within a projecting gabled stone porch with a tiled roof. The upper part of the doorway is framed by a stopped ogee moulding, with a corbelled hoodmould above. The door itself is constructed of nailed boards with decorative forged iron hinges, letter-box, and handle. Beside the door is a decorative iron boot-scraper and a lantern above. The porch is flanked by small windows with a three-light window above. The flanking wings are symmetrical, with two-light windows to ground and first floors on their inner faces, and each outer gabled face features a canted bay window to the ground floor with a three-light window above and ventilation shafts to the gables. The south face extends into a further bay to the east, creating complex roof slopes, with a three-light window to the ground floor and a two-light window above. The rear parts of the house match the front fenestration treatment in style, though less regularly arranged, with ventilation shafts to the gables. To the east, a door leads to the kitchen with a late-20th-century window; this area is sheltered by a late-20th-century glass lean-to extension meeting the stone retaining wall behind. Towards the north-west is a triple opening with two window lights to the left and a chamfered door-opening to the right containing a replacement door. The north side of the northern wing has a late-20th-century two-storey extension built in a similar style and materials to the original.

Internally, the front door opens into an arched porch leading to the entrance hall, which forms the centre of the radiating plan. Small windows flank the door. Straight ahead is an arched opening within a wider arched screen leading to the stair, with the kitchen area to the right. The dining room is accessed directly from the entrance hall to the south, with a passage leading to the drawing room to the north. The dining room features a canted bay window facing south and a large stone fire-surround of simple but considered design characteristic of Falconer's work, with a deep frieze carved with a lozenge and a corbelled shelf. The drawing room has a canted bay window facing west and a stone fireplace with a bolection moulded frame and concave surround with integral low stands. In the northern corner is a fitted cupboard with shelving above. Double doors lead to an adjacent room with the triple opening providing light and rear access; this room has a cast-iron fire-surround with moulded pendentives visible beneath the stair. The ground floor of the extension is accessed from this room. To the right of the stair, a door opens to a passage serving as a servery or pantry with built-in storage—a dresser beneath rear windows and a glazed china cupboard opposite—and a hatch accessing the dining room. The kitchen has undergone some reconfiguration, incorporating the former larder area and featuring a new window; the rear lobby with small WC survives, as do the boarded doors with Bakelite handles. The stair rises straight from the rear hall section with a quarter turn against the back wall, lit by an arched window. It is contained by a screen of rectangular moulded balusters continuing from a closed string to landing level, then forming a balustrade to the landing's back. The newel post is decorated with a recessed rectangular panel and stepped top. Upstairs, the bedrooms feature a variety of cast-iron fire-surrounds in late-19th and early-20th-century designs, and some original built-in cupboards. The principal bedroom in the north-west wing is entered through a doorway with shouldered surrounds. The house retains the majority of its original simple joinery, including three-panelled doors, doorframes, skirting, picture rail joining hoods over window openings, and cupboards, together with a number of original copper handles.

The house is built into the side of a hill, with the rear building enclosed by a stone retaining wall, the rear garden lying above. The plot is surrounded by a dry stone wall. Opposite the front door is a gateway with the original timber gate featuring delicate wrought ironwork to the crest and overthrow.