Island House

Island House

The main street-facing range is built in two distinct phases, separated by a clear straight joint aligned with the axial chimney position. A storeyed porch, probably contemporary with the original phase, stands to the right. The building is constructed of rubble with traces of lime-wash and some dressed stone detail, beneath a slate roof with gable end and axial chimneys.

The porch features a door on its inner face with a dressed stone shallow four-centred arched head. Small windows occupy the first floor, with narrow slit windows set beneath the eaves and in the gable apex. The original section of the main range has three lower windows and two at first floor level, all with arched voussoir heads, though these openings were modified during 19th-century remodelling. The windows retain wood mullions and transoms with leaded lights, though one has been altered subsequently. Two narrow slits set high up at first floor mark either end of the range. The second phase to the left (north-east) has a single window with voussoir arched head to the ground floor, and windows with flat lintels to first floor, one of which is long blocked. Three small gabled dormers in the roof are probably associated with 19th-century remodelling. Early 19th-century additions against the south-west gable include round-arched brickwork to a Y-traceried stair window with paired sashes. A pyramidal conservatory was recorded in the angle in the 1986 list description but was not observed during a 2007 inspection.

The parallel rear range has a doorway to the garden left of centre, with a round-arched window to its left and a small-paned casement to the right. The first floor features a fine small-paned oriel bow window to the right and a shallower curved oriel to the left, neither aligned with the lower windows. The large rear wing contains a massive lateral stack, with windows probably all associated with 19th-century remodelling.

Adjoining the main range to the left (north-east) and linking it with the separately listed garage is an early 19th-century Picturesque Gothic gateway. This features a crenellated parapet over an arched doorway, flanked by a low tower also with crenellated parapet and narrow gothic windows.

Interior

Entry from the porch to the main range is through a doorway with finely glazed detail in its upper panel. The original range now comprises a single room with a staircase against the gable end. This is a broad dogleg staircase rising from a triple-arched screen, probably of later 19th-century date and Jacobean in style, but almost certainly incorporating elements of an earlier staircase. The detail to newels, rails and string appears consistent with a 17th-century date, though the turned balusters and newel caps are 19th-century additions. Paired sashes to the stair window have delicate carved detail to the architrave and coloured glazing in the upper panes. The main fireplace is also in Jacobean manner, with heavy bolection moulding and enrichment.

The staircase leads to a suite of formal reception rooms in the first floor of the rear range. These comprise two paired rooms separated by a moulded archway. The outer room has a coved boarded ceiling and shallow oriel window with curved shutters. The inner room features a coved plaster ceiling with acanthus cornice. A heavy marble fireplace with low-relief foliate ornamentation occupies two distinct motifs in the spandrels of its broad arch, with a monogramme on the keystone shield. This room also has a finely glazed oriel window with curved shutters.

The main rear wing contains a massive lateral fireplace with a stone voussoir arch, partially filled in to form a vaulted alcove with a small gothic arched window opening to the garden. A stone corbel in this wall may indicate evidence for an earlier ceiling position; a further corbel supports what is probably a plastered beam against the gable wall.

Roof Structure

The roof structure is partially visible in the main range and storeyed porch. The porch has two trusses with curved and stop-chamfered collars; the main timbers are also chamfered. Exposed sections of the trusses in the main range suggest similar detail.