Glen Island House

Glen Island House is a gentleman's residence built in 1869 and extended in 1884, standing on the east bank of the River Thames opposite Maidenhead. The architect is not known.

The house is constructed of buff brick with stone detailing and red tile roofs. The original 1869 house was extended to the east in identical style in 1884 with the addition of a wing containing a billiard room and bedrooms above, effectively doubling its size. A short single-storey entrance link was added to the south front in the later 20th century to provide independent access to the two parts.

The house employs an irregular plan and composition designed to create a picturesque effect, with features including full-height canted bays, mullion and transom windows, turrets, fretted bargeboards, half-dormers, and tall brick ridge and lateral chimneys. The north entrance front is plainer than other elevations, with a large two-storey porch to the right of centre and a polygonal stair turret to the left with a conical roof that rises above the general roof line. An iron dial indicates the water level in the house's tanks. The main elevations face west and south, both displaying identical two-storey canted bays under projecting barge-boarded gables. The bays display monograms and the house's dates of construction. The west end features a single-storey straight-sided bay window almost entirely occupied by mullion and transom windows. The east side is visually dominated by a row of four half-dormer windows and a full gable at its right end, with a short single-storey service range attached to the corner.

The interior of the 1869 west half contains a large double-height staircase hall with panelling to picture rail level, a 17th-century style fireplace, and foliate plaster frieze. The two main living rooms open to the west overlooking the river and contain heavily carved 17th-century style fireplaces and original woodwork including doors, skirting boards, and window shutters; these rooms have been partly knocked through in the 20th century. A south-facing reception room and the south-facing former dining room both feature heavy fireplaces and decorative plaster cornices, the latter also having a built-in sideboard. The billiard room in the south part of the east wing features dado panelling and a fireplace with coloured tiles depicting Mother Hubbard and Taffy the Welshman. Above the fireplace is a window with stained glass depictions of the Palmer arms and monograms of Sir Henry and Lady Palmer. A small panelled annexe opens eastward, possibly a smoking room. A secondary staircase behind the billiard room features stone cantilever stairs with cast-iron balustrade and ramped oak stair rail. The main staircase has spiral-twist balusters and panelled newell posts with finials. Upstairs rooms, now converted to offices, retain their general plan form along with most original woodwork and plaster cornices.

Glen Island House was built in 1869 for Lieutenant General Sir Roger William Henry Palmer, Baronet (died 1910), a major Irish landowner who had fought in several major battles of the Crimean War, including the charge of the Light Brigade. When resident at Glen Island he was active in many Thames-side activities. In 1884 he extended the house to the east in identical style, creating something akin to a small country house. The house stood north of Taplow paper mill, which was greatly enlarged in the mid-20th century. The house has been used as offices for the paper mill company for many years.