Douthwaite

A country house in Douthwaite Dale, Hutton-le-Hole, with origins dating back to the 17th century. The main house was substantially rebuilt in 1760 (dated on the rainwaterhead) in dressed and hammered sandstone on a hammered sandstone plinth, with a rear wing added in 1814. The building underwent renovation and partial demolition in 1978–79.

The 18th-century main house is a 2-storey building with attic, presenting a 3-window front. It features a panelled door set within a pedimented doorcase, with a 12-pane sash window over the door. The flanking windows are 16-pane sashes on both floors, each with plain raised surrounds incorporating triple keyblocks. A raised first-floor band runs continuously around the building. The eaves cornice is cavetto-moulded and returned at each end, continuing as raised bands on both returns. Hipped gabled dormers with small-pane casements project from the roof, which is hipped and gabled with an M-shaped profile. End chimney stacks serve both ranges. The building displays raised and chamfered quoins, coped gables with shaped kneelers, and stone slate roofing.

The rear elevation includes a Venetian staircase window with small-pane sashes in a plain raised surround. The left return shows 16-pane sashes at both floors and paired 12-pane sashes in the attic. The right return contains an inserted oriel window on the first floor, with paired sash windows in a plain raised surround in the attic. A parapet masks the roof line.

The 1814 wing is 2-storey with a 2-window front, alongside a projecting 2-storey, 3-window range to the left. This wing is constructed of herringbone-tooled sandstone. Its ground floor features a shallow canted bay with a French window on the right, topped by a 16-pane sash. A full-height canted bay window occupies the left side. Both bays contain decorative diamond lattice glazing, as do the windows in the gable end of the projecting range; remaining windows are 12- and 16-pane sashes. The projecting range is topped by a hipped roof.

Internally, the 18th-century house retains four pairs of upper crucks reused from an earlier house, supporting the roof structure. The 1814 wing contains four scissor-brace trusses. A carved overmantel dated 1659 and a chimney-piece dated 1666 survive within the building, indicating incorporation of material from the 17th-century house that originally occupied the site.

The Shepherd family occupied Douthwaite continuously from approximately 1500 until 1886. The building was constructed for the Shepherd family and represents an important record of domestic vernacular architecture spanning several centuries.