Misarden Park

Misarden Park is a large country house, originally built circa 1620 and subsequently much altered and extended by leading architects of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The house underwent significant remodelling circa 1850 by Thomas Fulljames, extensive alterations between 1874 and 1878 by Alfred Waterhouse for E.A. Leatham, alterations and a new service wing in 1914 by Andrew Russell for Captain F.N.H. Wills, and rebuilding of the east wing after a fire in 1919 by Edwin Lutyens.

The building is constructed of ashlar and coursed rock-faced rubble limestone, with ashlar chimneys and a stone slate roof. It is two storeys with an attic storey, comprising a main section with small west and large east wings.

The south front displays a symmetrical main section remodelled by Fulljames and Waterhouse. It features a central gabled two-storey rectangular bay window with attic at the position of the original porch, with a full moulded parapet gable and finial at each end. Two-storey canted bay windows with crenellated parapets flank this feature, with two similar lower bays to the inner section and a small gable above an attic window to the main elevation. Fenestration throughout comprises mullioned and transomed casements with continuous drip courses. The 19th-century rebuilt ridge-mounted chimneys have moulded caps. The range extending to the right dates from the 19th century and has a rock-faced rubble elevation with two full moulded gables and mullioned and transomed windows. Lutyens added a five-bay classical arcade to the ground floor with Tuscan columns and keystones to arch architraves. The east library wing projects forward with a parapet gable end, mullioned and transomed fenestration, and small west-facing and south-facing gables with plain unmoulded casements.

The east end displays a main gable end in rock-faced rubble with mullioned and transomed fenestration. Adjacent to this is the Lutyens addition in ashlar with small two-light casements at stair landing positions and a simple Tudor arched doorway at cellar level. The service wing has mullioned and transomed casements.

The north front has been greatly altered during the 19th-century rebuilding. The lower part of a central two-storey parapet gabled porch retains a 17th-century doorway with pedestal-mounted Corinthian pilasters, a Doric entablature, and low-relief strapwork above a continuous drip course. A chimney with three diagonal shafts and moulded caps also appears to be 17th-century. A panel with a carved coat-of-arms above the doorway and flanking trefoil-headed casements are 19th-century additions. Large mullioned and transomed stair windows and the exterior of the northwest wing are by Waterhouse; the wing features a two-storey canted bay window. A service wing projects forward to the left with a prominent mullioned and transomed oriel window. Numerous cast-iron rainwater heads dated MCMXIV bear the monogram N H W.

The interior retains little from the 17th-century house, though a notable exception is the stone hall fireplace with paired Composite columns and a chimneypiece above divided into two panels bearing the Sandys family arms. Panelling with strapwork and Ionic pilasters was installed in 1914, along with an elaborate Jacobean-style plaster ceiling. The staircase by Waterhouse features turned balusters and fluted square newels. Rooms in the west wing display elaborate Edwardian classical styling. The dining room contains linenfold panelling and a very large fireplace by Waterhouse. The library features simpler fielded panelling by Lutyens with integral bookstacks projecting at right angles, and has a central coved Jacobean-style plaster ceiling with the outer ceiling portion showing plain scrubbed oak joists.

The house stands within a 20th-century formal garden. A lodge and gateway to the west form part of the curtilage (listed separately).