The Stray

House, circa 1910 (developed 1914). Designed by Henry Thomas Hare, FRIBA (1861-1921), for his family. Brick with brick tile and flint details. Deep A-frame and hipped roofs with wood frame casements with leaded panes and brick chimneystacks. Arts and Crafts style.

The house follows a longitudinal plan with formal rooms arranged along the south garden elevation and service rooms and circulation spaces to the north.

The south elevation faces the garden beneath a deep tile roof. The ground floor features an advanced bay at each end, each containing a 5-light window and corner pilasters that are curved and advanced further to low piers. The central 3 bays are recessed with 3 pairs of doors opening to a terrace with wide brick steps descending to the garden. The first floor contains 3 dormers, each with a 4-light window and hipped tile roof, while the attic has 2 small flat roof dormers.

The north elevation also has a deep tile roof with a pair of wide chimneystacks positioned below the ridge. A central 2-storey porch with a steep gable projects here; the gable features tumbled brickwork, and the first floor has a 3-light window set in a brick tile frame with angled tile mullions. The entrance comprises a 6-panel door with glazed panels at the top, set in a deep recess with a soffit canopy and splayed reveals, each formed of 4 deep courses of tiled brick. Small single lights flank the entrance on each side. Three small flat-roof dormers are present, the first floor example added in the mid-20th century. To the right is an advanced room with a hipped tile roof. To the left is an advanced room with a hipped tile roof that extends further left, incorporating a covered passage to the garden.

The east and west elevations both feature deep gables with advanced eaves and exposed purlins. At both east and west, 3 courses of tile brick rise to the attic with a 4-light window, above a central diamond of tile brick flanked by 3-light windows to the first floor. The ground floor of the west elevation has a 4-light angled bay window to the left and a 4-light window to the right. The east elevation mirrors this arrangement reversed, with a service door at the far right. All windows feature small leaded panes throughout.

Interior: The ground floor contains a wood panelled entrance hall with a checkerboard black and white stone floor. To the left is a large kitchen with larder, pantry and scullery, all retaining original doors and a bell system. To the right are a lavatory, a corridor to the study, and a staircase to the first floor with flat stylised balusters over panelling. The study has a 6-panel door with glazed lights at the top and a wood and stone fireplace flanked by built-in cupboards. The south side of the house facing the gardens contains a long drawing room to the west and a dining room to the east. The drawing room displays 4-high panelling to each wall and a 3-bay plaster ceiling in delicate 18th century style with a centre rose and pomegranate and floral motifs. It has a wood chimneypiece with shallow pilasters with a stone Tudor arch and splayed brick reveals. A panelled partition with central paired doors separates it from the dining room, which is similarly detailed but slightly plainer and provides access to the service rooms.

The first floor comprises a staircase, bathroom and hall at the centre of the north side, with 4 bedrooms arranged in a U-shaped layout. Three rooms on the south side each have a dormer window flanked by cupboards; the southeastern room is the main bedroom with an en-suite bathroom and dressing room, while the central room is a small bedroom positioned behind the stair to the attic.

The attic contains a stair with stick balusters, a spine corridor lit by a pair of small dormers, and a bedroom at each end.

A small rendered electricity generating shed with a pitched tile roof and fixed multi-pane casements stands to the side of the garden.

This is a richly detailed and well-planned Arts and Crafts house built by the important Edwardian architect H.T. Hare for his own family.