Candida Cottage

Candida Cottage is a cottage that dates from the mid to late 17th century and underwent renovation around 1917, possibly by Charles Rennie Mackintosh for W J Bassett-Lowke, with further alterations in the 20th century. The building is constructed of coursed limestone rubble and features a plain-tile roof that replaced the original thatch, along with brick end stacks. It has a two-unit plan and is two stories high with a three-window range.

The entrance is a plank door located to the right of the center, which includes a small triangular leaded light and a wooden lintel, set within a later 20th-century gabled stone porch. There are two-light casement windows on the ground and first floors to the right, a four-light casement window on the ground floor to the left, and a three-light casement window on the first floor to the left of center. All windows have wooden lintels and small leaded panes, with 20th-century stylights.

To the left, there is an old single-storey extension that has been altered in the 20th century. On the right, a single-storey extension was built as a loggia for Bassett-Lowke, made of coursed rubble with a flat concrete roof. This extension features concrete lintels over the front opening and narrower openings on either side of the door to the right side elevation. Access to the flat roof is provided by a double-leaf 'French window' with a wooden lintel at the first floor right gable end. The original plain stone coped parapet of the loggia has been altered and is no longer continuous, with the openings now glazed.

Inside, the cottage features bar-stop-chamfered spine beams and an open fireplace with a chamfered bressumer. Surviving from the Bassett-Lowke period are the fire canopy, basket, and candle-holders on the piers of the fireplace. A glazed screen enclosing a dog leg staircase also dates from this period. The fire window in the inglenook and the window beside the hall fireplace have triangular heads, characteristic of Charles Rennie Mackintosh's style. The hall and loggia have red and black tiled floors.

When W J Bassett-Lowke purchased the cottage in 1914 for a country retreat, it was originally divided into two. It was restored as a single cottage, possibly by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, who also designed furniture for the cottage, some of which is now in the Brighton Art Gallery and Museum.