Dolbelidr

Dolbelidr

Dolbelidr is a large L-plan house built in 1930, constructed of roughcast brick with hipped roofs of heavy graded slates and feathered, oversailing eaves. Rendered chimneys with simple brick capping complete the exterior.

The house comprises two sections: a main domestic block of two-and-a-half stories, and a lower 2-storey service wing adjoining at right angles to the front. The main block spans 4 bays. The 3-storey left-hand section is advanced and gabled, and features a decorative cast iron hopper bearing the raised initials 'RKLSM' and the date 1930. A single-storey slated porch occupies the centre of the 3-bay recessed section to the right. This porch has a chamfered sandstone coped gable and moulded Art Deco stone entablature with multiple projecting keystones. The door itself is moulded with raised and fielded panels and a shaped head, with 6-pane leaded lights to the return walls.

Windows throughout the street-facing elevations are flush casements with projecting slate sills, mostly in multiples of 6-pane sections arranged in 2-, 3-, and 4-part configurations. The first floor of the gabled section features a larger tripartite window with 8-pane sections. Two hipped-roofed, slated dormers to the attic floor have oversailing and gently feathered eaves. The service wing is lower, with 4-part casements to ground and first floors. A gabled and storeyed WC projection adjoins to the left, featuring a casement to the ground floor and an elongated octagonal fixed window to the first floor.

The hipped roofs to the left and right sides of the service and main blocks respectively are a distinctive feature. That to the main block sweeps down to first-floor level, where a single-storey canted bay to the right contains 28-pane French doors. Above this, a hipped dormer matches those to the attic. A tripartite casement lies to the left of this section.

The garden front is symmetrical, with a raised paved terrace and low rubble walls with sandstone steps leading to the garden. The roof is hipped to the right, creating an almost triangular facade. The ground floor has 7 bays, the first floor 5 bays, and the attic floor 3 bays. Elegant 24-pane near-flush sashes occupy the ground floor. The centre features a stepped-up garden entrance with moulded wooden entablature and multiple keystones, and an 18-pane glazed door. A 28-pane French door on the first floor provides access to a moulded cement-stone balcony with canted sides and simple iron balustrade. 16-pane casements flank this on the first floor, with 12-pane casements serving the attic dormers. The right return of the garden facade has a ground-floor casement with a hipped dormer above. A ground-floor window (a near-contemporary reduction of a large French window which originally occupied the space) is accompanied by a canted balcony in front. The rear of the service wing contains further 2-, 3-, and 4-part casements with an attic dormer to the left; an 8-pane basement window sits to the right.

A single-storey quadrangular service range adjoins the service block to the left, enclosing a central courtyard. Access from the forecourt is through a deep square-headed tunnel opening containing the service block entrance to the right and a former laundry to the left, both with 2-panel fielded doors. External stepped basement access to the left of the former door has plain railings and a boarded door. The laundry range, occupying the forecourt side of the quadrangle, has a modern window facing the forecourt. The road-facing side features a stable range with an advanced central section; stable and boarded doors with casements as elsewhere. Corner towers with pyramidal roofs terminate this range at the corners. The rear side of the quadrangle is occupied by a large hipped-roofed double-garage range with original boarded folding double doors. To the left is a cobbled slype, roofed over with the garage block and featuring an arched entrance leading down to the produce gardens to the rear. This contains further boarded entrances to former battery and generator rooms, coal stores, and a WC. The rear of the garage block has a catslide roof sheltering a part-open 3-bay potting shed facing the produce garden; the left bay is weather-boarded with a casement, whilst the right bays are open with wooden dividing posts.

A large contemporary greenhouse range with original multi-pane glazing extends between the service wing of the main house and the garage block courtyard. An entrance with a boarded door leads from the service court, with a further glazed door at the garden end. Adjoining the north tower of the courtyard is a contemporary red brick crinkle-crankle wall of half-brick thickness, constructed in header bond, running approximately 16 metres eastwards and returning to the right (south) in a straight section of 5 metres before terminating. The rear is roughcast, and a wooden boarded gate sits at the top near the house.

Interior and Detailing

The interior demonstrates characteristically restrained detailing which survives almost entirely intact. The comprehensive design approach—evident in the inclusion of all doors, fireplaces, work surfaces, and service cupboards—exemplifies the calibre of contemporary architects responsible.

The main ground-floor doors to the front, study, dining and drawing rooms are 2-panel, raised and fielded, and fashioned from polished mahogany. These all lead from a slate-flagged entrance hall, as does the main stair. The stair is of traditional straight-flight type, accessed via a wide depressed arch from the entrance hall, with a moulded mahogany rail, turned balusters and newels, and a balustraded first-floor landing.

Plain plaster cornicing adorns the drawing and dining rooms; the latter features simple flat relief plasterwork to the ceiling. The drawing room contains a simple classical fireplace with a lugged green marble surround and wooden arcaded frieze with surmounting mantelshelf. The dining room has a bolection-moulded limestone fireplace.

A part-glazed mahogany connecting door with a small-pane upper section provides access to the service corridor to the left of the hall. Original fitted cupboards and glazed cabinets survive in the butler's pantry and kitchen; corridors are laid with parquet flooring. A plain stick-baluster back-stair of dog-leg type rises to the attic floor, where servants' rooms and dormitories are arranged. These retain simple decorative iron grates and original bathroom fittings.