Greenlands (The Management College, Henley)

Greenlands (The Management College, Henley)

A mansion now in use as a college. The building was constructed circa 1810 for Thomas Darby-Coventry, then extended in 1853 for Edward Marjoribanks and again in 1871 for W H Smith. The west front underwent further alterations between 1936 and 1938 by P Geddes Hyslop. The exterior is rendered in whitewash with slate roofs concealed behind parapets.

The south front displays two storeys arranged in five bays. The three centre bays date from circa 1810, while the outer bays are from the 1853 extension. A mid-19th-century modillion cornice and balustraded parapet run across all bays. Mid-19th-century banded quoins are also present. The centre bay features a tripartite sash window with architrave surround and cornice to the first floor, and an early 19th-century entrance portico with four Ionic columns and entablature, the capitals enriched with festoons. The flanking bays are slightly advanced and have bowed projections. These contain four-light French doors to the ground floor and tripartite sashes to the first floor, all with architrave surrounds and cornices. The outer bays have two-storey canted bay windows with pilasters and entablatures, fitted with three-pane sashes. To the right extends a single-storey whitewashed brick extension, originally an orangery but now serving as a dining hall, with a late 19th-century two-storey service wing behind. The service wing is fitted with sash windows having shouldered surrounds and formerly contained a three-storey tower at the angle with the main block. A small tower to the right side of the rear service blocks features blind arcading of three Romanesque arches beneath a steep pyramid roof.

The west front comprises six bays of sashes, with the two centre bays slightly recessed and containing an entrance within a Doric portico, probably a 20th-century addition. Another wing and further 20th-century extensions are set back to the left.

The interior contains an entrance hall with a distyle in antis Ionic screen of paired columns, dentil cornice and pedimented doorcases. An early 19th-century open string stair with decorative wrought-iron balusters, wreathed mahogany handrail and panelled dado leads to the garden hall. Throughout the building, rooms retain mid-19th-century plasterwork and 18th-century style fireplaces.

Of particular architectural significance is the early 20th-century Old Library, designed and executed by William Morris & Co for the Hon. W F D Smith, MP. The room features fitted oak panelling, shelves and glazed cupboards with carved cornice, and an arcaded shelf above which rises a deep plasterwork frieze beneath a square-coffered ceiling. A green marble chimneypiece is mounted with a bracketed oak mantle and carved lugged frame overmantle. Fine copper Art Nouveau wall and ceiling light fittings, bell pulls and monogrammed door furniture embellish the room, which is fitted with panelled oak double leaf doors. This library is illustrated in "Hints on House Furnishing" (1909) by W Shaw Sparrow.

The Garden common room retains hand-painted wallpaper, probably dating from the 1870s and executed by Italian craftsmen for W H Smith. This decoration was rediscovered in August 1991. Large panels feature fine foliate and florinate framework decoration alternating with narrower panels of more ornate arabesque designs comprising foliate, florinate, vases and animal motifs. Oval panels originally contained marouflaged classical figures. An 18th-century style ceiling shows evidence of hand-painting beneath the current paint scheme.

A former bathroom is tiled to full height with fine patterned glazed tiles. The dado depicts fantastic fish in a four-tile repeat pattern.