Greystones

Greystones

A house designed circa 1911 for Colonel AS James by a follower of the Arts and Crafts movement. The design is attributed to both Norman Jewson and Ernest Barnsley, though the deeds record the house as built by Walter Gorton. The building is of two storeys with an attic, constructed in coursed rubble with ashlar dressings and a hipped roof covered with graduated stone slates.

EXTERIOR

All windows are casements. The south front is near-symmetrical with three bays and a central gable. The gable contains two three-light mullioned windows at ground floor level and two two-light windows at first floor level, with a vertical slit window to the gable. To the right of this central feature is a three-light window at ground floor level and a three-light first floor dormer with hipped roof and stone-tiled flanks. To the left is a similar first floor window above a reworked ground floor arrangement. Originally this bay contained a recessed loggia, which was first enclosed by sliding plate glass windows in the late 20th century. This arrangement has subsequently been replaced by a wooden screen with a glazed upper body of six lights and French windows to the centre. The hipped roof has paired, cross-axial chimneys to the ridge. A single-storey service wing is recessed to the right with replaced 20th-century doors and a tall two-stage chimney.

The east flank has two bays with two-light mullioned windows at ground floor level, a two-light gabled dormer to the left and a four-light gabled dormer to the right, with the service wing projecting at the right.

The west flank has mullioned ground-floor windows of two and three lights to the right and a canted bay window to the left. The first floor has hipped dormers of one and two lights.

The northern entrance front has a broad gabled wing at centre with a doorway to the left. The doorway has a massive lintel with quadrant moulding to the forward edge and chamfers to the sides. To the right is a three-light mullion whose heavy lintel is split into three blocks, supported by the mullions. At first floor level above are two two-light windows with similar mullions and a vertical slit window to the gable. To the right the roof sweeps low with a four-light ground-floor window, a two-light gabled dormer at first floor and a single light to the attic. Service rooms to the left have single-light mullions.

INTERIOR

The entrance hall contains an inglenook fireplace with cranked bressumer. The L-shaped staircase rises from here. Ceiling beams are exposed, and the flooring in the hall and dining room is laid in herringbone pattern using wood blocks. The dining room has a chamfered central ceiling beam and two window seats. An original fitted cupboard stands to one side of the hearth, though the fire surround has been removed. Doors throughout the house are of planks with nailhead decoration and strap hinges. The sitting room has a window seat and exposed beams; the fire surround has been replaced. The former loggia at the south end has been enclosed to extend the room, accessible through the former external doors. The former kitchen, scullery and pantry now form a single large kitchen.

The oak staircase features a moulded handrail and rectangular balusters with emphatic chamfers to their longer sides. This pattern appears on both flights rising from the ground floor and again on the flight to the attic, though the latter appears to be of later date.

At first floor level, most bedrooms have window seats and exposed beams. Two rooms have fitted cupboards appearing to be original. Some casement lights have been replaced, but the majority retain their original bronze latches and stays.

The garage block and garden shed to the north west, and the garden buildings to the north east, are not of special architectural or historic interest.