Melsetter House, Hoy

Melsetter House is a substantial country house dating from 1738, extensively altered and extended in 1898 by the Arts and Crafts architect William Richard Lethaby. The house is two storeys with a basement, and Lethaby's north wing incorporates an additional attic floor. The building is constructed with Orkney sandstone dressings to the window and door surrounds, and diamond-shaped terracotta ventilation bricks feature on most elevations.

West Elevation

The main block of the west elevation has the entrance door positioned to the right, fitted with a six-pane rectangular fanlight and a glazed timber door within a chamfered sandstone surround. Directly above sits a narrow, linear first-floor window with a moulded sandstone surround. The central ground floor window also has moulded surrounds, flanked by horizontal basement windows. To the far left, a bipartite basement window sits below a tripartite window at ground floor level, with a first-floor quadrapartite window above hugging the eaves. A moulded sandstone eaves course with square corbels runs along the west elevation of the main block.

An advanced two-storey wing projects to the right, with single windows at ground and first floor levels to the left side. Scroll skewputts feature on this wing, with the left keystone dated '17' and the right dated '38'. The left return has a plain wall with a stone bench, while the right return contains a ground floor window.

A further advanced two-storey wing extends to the north, formed from former detached outbuildings which Lethaby converted into a smoking room and gun room. This wing has a crowstepped gable wall with corbelled kneelers and sandstone quoins. A central first-floor window and circular ventilation hole in the gable apex are visible. A courtyard wall extends from the right of the gable wall to the chapel, with the west face showing exposed rubble and the east face harled. Steps descend into the flagstoned courtyard from the west, with further steps within.

Lethaby's north service wing stands to the left of the advanced former smoking room. Steps lead up to a service door on the right, which is glazed and timber-built, with a narrow window with lattice glazing to the left flank and a small leaded window to the far left. Three first-floor lattice windows sit above. The wing is crowned by a crowstepped M-shaped gable, with a second-floor window in the centre of the left gable, a window to the left of the right gable, and a circular window to the right.

North Elevation

The former two-storey gun and smoking room wing is set back to the right. The former gun room contains a glazed timber door with a window to the right, featuring long and short sandstone quoins to the window surrounds. A window sits to the left, with a small first-floor lattice window hugging the eaves above. A raised wallhead marks a narrow section to the far left, containing small lattice windows at ground and first floor levels.

An asymmetrical north gable wall added by Lethaby features long and short sandstone quoins to the left and plain sandstone quoins to the right. The left section is two-bay and four-storey, while the right section is single-bay and three-storey. Three segmentally arched basement windows (boarded to the left), three ground floor windows, and four first-floor windows are present. A smaller leaded window sits to the far right. Ground and first-floor windows are centred above each other in the left gable section, with two second-floor windows in the gable wallhead. Three central bullstanes are visible. A single-storey wall to the left encloses the kitchen court, with a round-headed doorway containing a timber boarded door to the right, a timber door to the coal chute to the left, and a timber boarded door to an outside lavatory at the far left with a small leaded window to the right flank.

East Elevation

A tall, harled kitchen court wall obscures the basement and ground floor level to the right. The wall is swept on the left return and has a sandstone wallhead. The three-bay section to the right is surmounted by three pediments. Below are a basement door and two windows (not seen), three ground floor windows, and three first-floor windows centred above. Three second-floor tripartite windows have chamfered and moulded stone surrounds and mullions, topped by a roll-moulded hoodmould with raking shoulders. Each pediment contains an initial spelling TMT (Thomas and Theodosia Middlemore) and is dated 1898, with rose, heart, and thistle finials surmounting them. A square hole between the pediments accommodates extending decorative pipe brackets.

The three-storey, three-bay section to the left has regularly placed fenestration with three windows to each floor, including piano nobile windows serving the dining room. A low sandstone wall stands in front of the ground floor windows, with a central opening and steps leading down to a paved area. Four large pots surmount the wall.

An advanced wing to the far left features a gabled section to the right with a forestair—stone steps leading up to the drawing room door with an asymmetrical arch and curved stone bench below. A decorative wrought-iron balustrade runs along the steps. The central glazed drawing room door has a roll-moulded surround and six-pane fanlight, flanked by windows. Two first-floor windows sit above, all with moulded surrounds. Two heart-shaped windows with star and moon crescent motifs appear in the gable apex. A ball finial surmounts the coped, shouldered gable head. A leaded bipartite basement window sits to the left of the stairs.

A plain bay to the left of the gabled section contains a central leaded basement window. The right return of the gabled section shows an advanced chimney breast to the left with sandstone quoins. A leaded basement window sits to the left of the chimney, where a sloping wall from the left meets the advanced stack, with an inner angle corbel stone above the left of the window. The tall, coped and half-shouldered sandstone stack features decorative corbels, with the breast stepped to the right at basement level. Three basement windows sit to the right of the chimney, alongside a transomed and mullioned leaded ground floor hall window. Two first-floor windows sit at eaves level.

South Elevation

An advanced symmetrical two-bay, crowstepped Lethaby wing to the right features two piano nobile windows serving the drawing room, with two first-floor windows centred above. A small square leaded window with stone transom and mullion sits in the apex. All windows have moulded surrounds, and a star finial tops the gable apex. The left return has a single bay with a ground floor window (formerly a door) within a chamfered sandstone door surround and rounded mullion and window surround. An elevated ground floor window and first-floor window hugging the eaves are also present.

The central two-bay section contains two basement windows and two larger ground floor windows. A cornice with extending decorative pipe brackets spans the central section, revealing the eaves level of the original house. Two first-floor windows flank smaller first-floor leaded windows, with a small square attic window in the left gable.

An advanced gable of the earlier house to the left has two ground floor and two first-floor windows. Two ground floor windows appear on the right return, with a bipartite first-floor window breaking the eaves to the right. The left return has a plain wall.

The south elevation of the former gun and smoking rooms includes a ground floor luggage door to the far right, approached by steps with a stone newel carved as a ship's bollard to the left. The door has a moulded surround and decorative carved lintel, with four panes in the timber door and a twelve-pane fanlight. A bipartite window sits above, with a basement window to the left.

The three-bay former smoking room to the left of the luggage door has a roll-moulded door surround to a tall central window, approached by steps with a carved stone pot. Above the door, a clock face is inscribed with the Middlemore family motto: 'Mon Desire Loyalte'. Flanking windows and three first-floor windows centred above hug the eaves. A ground and first-floor window sit to the left in the former gun room.

General Features

The windows are predominantly twelve-pane timber sash and case, with some twenty-four, eighteen, nine, and six-pane variants. Lattice glazing and leaded casements feature in some bipartite and tripartite windows. Timber boarded doors with glazing are used throughout. Pitched roofs are covered in stone slates, with some overhanging eaves supported on brackets. Sandstone skews with some moulded skewputts are present, along with crowstepped gables to the north-west and south-east. Various ridge and gable apex stacks, coped and predominantly of exposed stone, are topped by cast-iron downpipes.

Interior

The interior is fine and intact throughout. Stone steps with plain wooden balusters lead from the entrance courtyard door up into the hall. A large red sandstone fireplace to the left has an arched fireplace opening with triple roll-moulding and green glazed tiles. Five corbelled candlestick supports sit above, with seven coats of arms in bas relief and the Middlemore family motto 'Mon Desire Loyalte' below. The sandstone extends from the chimney breast to form an arch over the hall window to the right of the fireplace. White painted floor-to-ceiling panelling, cornicing, and an oak floor complete the hall.

A two-leaf door leads into the drawing room, where white painted timber panelling continues alongside a white painted decorative floral plaster frieze. The fireplace has a roll-moulded sandstone surround bordered by cut green marble, with colourful Delft tiles to the fireplace cheeks.

Another two-leaf door leads from the hall into the dining room. White painted timber panelling continues, with white painted wild flower plaster decoration to the frieze and beams. The fireplace is recessed into the original house wall and has a roll-moulded sandstone surround with green glazed tiles.

A plain corridor with a red tiled floor leads north from the hall. The serving room (now kitchen) lies due north of the dining room. The smoking room has a timber floor and plain cornice, with a large roll-moulded sandstone surround to the fireplace, a sandstone mantel supported by two stone corbels, and green glazed tiles to the fire cheeks.

The basement kitchen remains unaltered, with a flagstone floor and the original kitchen dresser and large range still in situ. Exposed stonework features on the piers between windows. The vaulted Chintz or Morning Room to the south of the entrance door has a moulded sandstone fireplace surround with Delft tiles. The library to the east of the Chintz room also has a moulded sandstone fireplace surround with green glazed tiles.

The stair well has a vaulted ceiling with foliage decoration to the plaster cornice. A stone arch breaks up a narrow corridor from which first-floor bedrooms lead. The floral theme continues in the bedroom plaster friezes and ceilings, with sandstone fireplaces and Delft tiles throughout. The second storey was not seen in 2000.

Garden Walls

A tall rubble wall surrounds a square-plan garden to the north-east of the house, swept in places. Two timber boarded doors with simple timber latches are set in the west wall. A lean-to shed occupies the south-west angle, while a glasshouse and lean-to shed are attached to the north wall. A timber boarded door in the south wall leads into the rectangular-plan Red Garden to the east of the house (now a plain lawn). A low wall to the east continues southwards to enclose the South Lawn and meets the driveway to the south. A low wall to the south of the Red Garden features intermittent stone plinths atop it. A line of cannons resting on low plinths runs parallel to the south of the wall.

Former Kennels

A small orchard lies to the north of the house, enclosed by a low rubble wall. Former lean-to kennels to the north have two windows to the north and a door to the west. A later pitched outbuilding is attached to the south, with two-leaf doors to the west, a small window to the right in the south elevation, steps leading up to a door to the right in the east elevation, and a window to the left. The later building has a stone slate pitched roof, while the former kennels have a stone slate lean-to roof. A rubble boundary wall extends east and west from the lean-to, joining the boundary wall to the Gardener's Cottage to the west and terminating in a square-plan gatepier with a conical apex to the east at the former rear entrance (now current entrance) to Melsetter House.