Plas Derwen

Plas Derwen

A two-storey house with attic, composed of regular and irregular elements arranged in a carefully managed design. The most striking features are the very prominent red tile hipped roofs with generous eaves, flat-roofed cascading dormers, and white-painted roughcast chimneys topped with tall terracotta pots of varied heights.

The main body of the house is approximately square in plan, with three principal roof ranges arranged around three sides, creating two prominent gables facing south towards the garden. This south-facing elevation is the only symmetrical side and serves as the principal front. The exterior is white-painted roughcast render with partial black-painted timber studding at first-floor level and partial red tile hanging at attic level. Windows throughout feature white-painted small-pane casements in black-painted frames.

The garden elevation has tile hanging above eaves level. The roof verge takes an M-form with a small central valley, and the upper portions of each gable project considerably, acting as heads to a strongly jettied pair of attic oriel windows. First-floor windows comprise three- and four-light designs. At ground storey are two bay windows with canted sides; these have mullion and transom lights with small panes above the transom only, or doors below it. A veranda roof links the two bays, with a two-light window at the centre behind a veranda post.

The right (east) side elevation has timber studding at upper storey level with a two-light window and rendered work below. A lean-to-roofed bay projects to the right with a porch beneath a jetty. The porch is recessed with an oval arch and open-fronted, featuring decorative screening walls that terminate in small battered piers with copings and ball finials. Timber studding and a two-light window sit above, with semi-glazed doors and a round window within.

The left (west) elevation is similar in character but includes a dormer window and a projecting gabled wing containing three upper windows and a three-light lower window, plus additional windows in the lean-to-roofed bay at left.

The rear (north) elevation overlooks the service yard at basement level. This elevation encompasses the greatest sweep of roof, including the lean-to-roofed section, with dormers at two levels. The lower dormers form a broad range of eight lights and abut a gabled wing to the right. One- and two-light windows appear below, with a door at the right giving access to basement stairs.

Rear stable yard buildings are connected by yard walls: a coach house stands to the west, whilst a stable and coach house occupy the north side. The west building features a hoist mounted over the doors within a hooded timber-boarded gable.

Despite its avant-garde architectural aesthetic, the house retains Victorian planning principles. A surprisingly small proportion of the interior was allocated to family use relative to servants' quarters. The north-east porch leads to a staircase hall with a plain two-flight main staircase serving only the first floor. Principal reception rooms occupy the south elevation; the south-east room is panelled. Kitchen premises lie to the north-west, the main room being a servants' hall with a small kitchen adjoining, now combined to serve as a single kitchen. Separate rear stairs (lower flight now lost) from the kitchen area connect to part of the upper storey and the attic.