The Red House

The Red House

House and Judges' lodging, built in 1717 for Thomas Carleton, with late 20th-century modifications. The building is constructed in classical style.

The house is constructed of red sandstone ashlar on the main elevation, with weathered irregular blocks to the rear. It has a slate roof with stone copings and gable ashlar chimney stacks. The building sits on a gently sloping site that falls to the west.

The main structure comprises two storeys plus a raised basement beneath steep double-pitched roofs of Westmorland slate, with seven bays across its width. The plan follows a double-pile arrangement with a central main entrance, originally containing four rooms on the ground floor with a rear staircase and off-set rear entrance.

The main east elevation is constructed of ashlar red sandstone with prominent quoins, moulded bands at ground and first floor levels, and a deep eaves cornice. The central entrance is approached by stone steps flanked by ornate 19th-century railings and features a bolection-moulded surround with a segmental pediment. The lintel bears the date 1717 in incised calligraphic lettering, separated by a monogram. The ground floor has six four-over-four sliding sash windows and the first floor has seven, with the central window to the first floor having a moulded architrave whilst the others are hollow-chamfered. The basement is rusticated with four small windows and a separate entrance, accessed by stone steps and fitted with a six-panel door. The right and left gables are of coursed rubble with a single attic window to each.

The rear west elevation has a semi-basement and two upper storeys. An off-set entrance to the left is reached by stone steps and features a partially moulded architrave with a carved and decorated stone lintel inscribed 'TC MC 1663' and a four-panel door. To the right is a three-light stone window with flat mullions. Above and slightly to the right of the entrance is a large stair window fitted with a horned twenty-over-twenty sliding sash window in plain stone surround. To the left is a single window to each floor, and to the right a pair of windows to each floor, all fitted with nine-over-nine sliding horned sash windows (with replacements to the top right) in plain dressed stone surrounds. Four inserted 20th-century bathroom windows are present. Two stone bands run horizontally; the upper band runs around the bottom of the stair window and the lower band rises around the entrance. A large basement window appears to the right, whilst a similar window to the left has been converted to French doors.

The interior retains much of the original plan-form, though the ground and first floors are now each divided into a pair of apartments with some inserted partitions and openings. A 19th-century lobby opens through timber and glazed double doors with side lights into a hall, from which an arched opening leads to the rear stair hall. The original early 18th-century dog-leg staircase rises from basement to first floor, with an open string, balustrade of turned vase-shaped balusters (three per tread), square newel posts and drops, and a ramped, flat-topped handrail with moulded sides. At the intermediate garden level, a half-landing provides access to the rear entrance lit by a mullioned window, above which sits a complete set of ten servants' bells. The upper half-landing is lit by the tall multi-paned stair window.

The basement is divided into three spaces; the central space contains a six-panel door, stone flag floor, and stone shelving on supports. Several early ceiling beams are visible throughout the basement. The ground floor north apartment occupies the former smoking room, kitchen, and back stair; the south apartment occupies the former dining room, office, and clerk's closet. Both have panelled reveals and shutters to the six principal south windows and original chimney breasts to the north and south gables, along with six-panel doors in moulded architraves marking the former position of the back stair. The first-floor north and south apartments similarly retain panelled reveals and shutters to the principal east windows and record the former position of the back stair; doors are mostly six-panel replacements. The attic is partially converted; a limited view of the roof space indicates the presence of the original roof structure. Features include a small hob-grate to the north gable, a re-used six-panel door, and an architrave with corner blocks.

To the front, an infilled area is bounded by a low red sandstone wall of three courses with flat coping stones, set with original cast-iron 19th-century railings with ornate heads.