Wilsford House

Details

WILSFORD CUM LAKE WILSFORD SU 13 NW (east side)

8/218 Wilsford House 15.4.87 II* House. 1904-6, by Detmar Blow, for Sir Edward Tennant (Lord Glenconnor). Flint and chalkstone chequerwork, with stone slate roofs. Rear wing similar but irregular chequerwork and thatched roof. Two storeys, and tall attic storey. Rectangular plan with inset central section on north-west and single storey service wing to north-east, entrance side. Each facade has 3 steeply pitched moulded gables terminating in trefoiled finials to attic storey. North-west has a low central 6-panelled door with monolithic lintel inscribed ET 1906 and 3-light overlight flanked by windows in the recessed section. Four-light stone-mullioned and transomed windows with rebated chamfers and no labels throughout. South- west front has central oriel with central half-round glazed light set over secondary entrance. South-east front has half-glazed panelled door and segmental canopy on carved consoles. Ashlar stacks. Service wing has irregular windows and 3 flush dormers. Interior: North-west door leads to large reception hall opening to an open well stair to rear, a handsome wide structure of late C17 design with heavy handrail and baluster newels - in limed oak, said to have been reconstructed from an imported stair. Shallow arches with finials. Dining room to right of hall has coved ceiling and marble fireplace. Corridor to south door has groined plaster vaults. Rooms to south-east front also have marble fireplaces. Secondary stair has counter turned spiral balusters, also in limed oak, and varied panelling throughout. First floor rooms have cornices and marble fireplaces. Attics constructed of heavy quasi-crucks and king posts of oak, set at right angles at each corner of building providing round circulation from top of great stair. Wall construction approximately lm thick, carrying solid floors, perhaps of fire resisting concrete as Happisburgh House. The building is one of the few surviving relatively unaltered works by Detmar Blow, who was related to his client. It is a prime example of his careful and finely detailed design. It was inherited by the Hon. Stephen Tennant (1906-1987), poet, painter and aesthete, in 1927 and decorated by him and his friends for his circle, which included E.M. Forster, Virginia Woolf, and Siegfried Sassoon. The interior decor is a unique and splendid reflection of the man and his times. Country Life, 29th Sept 1906; Recent English Domestic Architecture, 1908) 1. 7, 57-9. J. Franklin: The Gentleman's Country House and its Plan, (1981), 33, 64 and 269.)

Listing NGR: SU1341939741

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

321539

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Franklin, J, The Gentlemans Country House and its Plan 1835-1914, (1981), 33 64 269
Architectural Review in Architectural Review, Vol. 1, (1908), 7 57-59
Country Life in 29 September, (1906)

End of official list entry

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