Dunford House

Dunford House

Dunford House is a former villa built between 1848 and 1853 for the manufacturer and politician Richard Cobden, on the site of his earlier birthplace. It was designed in the Italianate style by F K Wehnert and has undergone modifications in the mid-20th century.

The building is constructed of stone and brick with a stucco finish. It is topped by hipped slate roofs with terracotta ridge tiles, and has rendered and brick stacks.

The house has a U-shaped footprint. The main rooms are arranged on either side of a central corridor, with stairs located in the southern wing and in the northern tower. A long 19th-century rear wing extends to the north and was subsequently widened in the 20th century. A J-shaped 20th-century wing is attached to the north-west and linked to the rear of the main house by a 20th-century first-floor bridge; these later additions are not of special interest.

The main villa is largely two-storey and topped by hipped roofs with modillion cornices. The east elevation has a central entrance with double doors flanked by side lights. To the left is a square-bay window and to the right a tripartite window. All ground-floor openings are flanked by pilasters and topped by cornices. Seven first-floor windows are arranged three-one-three, all containing margin-glazed sashes.

The south elevation features attached timber and metal glasshouses with hipped and catslide roofs. Above are two first-floor windows with eight-over-eight sashes, and the elevation is topped by two dormer windows.

To the north is a setback three-storey wing lit by an asymmetrical arrangement of sash windows. In front is a flat-roof arcaded porch containing a six-panel door. A four-storey square tower with a hipped roof and round-arch top-floor windows is attached. A dedication stone on the north elevation reads "DUNFORD HOUSE / National Council of YMCAs. / 'That they all may be one' / Home of RICHARD COBDEN. M.P. / 1804-1865". Further north is a two-storey rear wing with 20th-century casement windows, doors and a lateral brick stack, with a mid-20th-century flat-roof addition along its west elevation.

Internally, most ground and first-floor doors in the main range are four-panelled; some 20th-century fire doors have been added, including in the corridors. Timber panelling surrounds some of the ground and first-floor windows.

The central east door opens into a vestibule with arched alcoves. Opposite the main door is a multi-glazed door leading to the corridor; both side walls contain six-panel doors. The door to the right leads to the music room (formerly the dining room), which includes a chimneypiece with a metal grate, marble surround, and stone architrave topped by a mantelshelf supported by consoles. The door to the left leads to the drawing room, which contains a marble chimneypiece with a metal grate and stepped surround flanked by decorative pilasters supporting a mantel shelf. The front rooms have elaborately decorative plaster cornices and ceiling roses.

The rooms on the courtyard-side of the corridor contain further chimneypieces, fixed shelving and alcoves, including one with a corner shelved alcove with a modillion cornice.

In the southern wing are two further rooms known as the Cobden library and the Bright library, named after Cobden's long-time friend and political ally John Bright MP. Both rooms have stone chimneypieces with metal grates; the one in the Cobden library is black stone, and the one in the Bright library is polished granite. The rooms on the southern side of the house have doors opening into the attached glasshouses, fitted with full-height multi-panelled shutters.

The southern wing contains a dogleg open-string staircase with a curtail step, stick balusters and curved handrail. The northern tower contains an open-well staircase with curved newel posts, stick balusters and a first-floor pendant.

The ground-floor rooms in the northern wing have been subject to some rearrangement. There is a large L-shaped entrance hall accessed via the colonnaded porch; in one wall is a dedication stone to Richard Cobden and his work. Beyond the entrance hall is a reception area; the partition between the main north wing and the rear wing has been removed to create an open-plan space with a kitchen in the former rear wing and bedrooms beyond.

The first floor of the main range has some plaster cornices. The bedrooms along the eastern side of the house are at a slightly higher level, accessed via split flights of stairs. Several first-floor marble chimneypieces with metal grates survive. En-suite bathrooms have been inserted into many of the rooms. The upper floors contain further panelled doors of various dates, and chimneypieces may survive in the rooms (these were not accessible at the time of the 2019 site visit). Further bedrooms are located in the 19th-century rear wing.