Reasons for Designation
* It has special architectural interest as an early work in Old English style of 1868-9 by the major C19 architect Richard Norman Shaw with a billiard room added by him in 1872.
* The exterior is substantially intact apart from some 1930s alterations to the former service and stable wings.
* It is built of high quality building materials.
* The original plan form survives intact apart from the loss of the staircase.
* The interior retains high quality fittings including built-in shelving and window seats, original doors, including folding doors, panelling and an inglenook fireplace to the dining room, the latter mentioned in Charles Eastlake's "History of the Gothic Revival" (1872).
* The house has historic interest as the final home between 1868 and 1887 and place of death of the notable Victorian novelist Dinah Maria Craik (nee Mulock) which interestingly was built out of the proceeds of her most famous novel, "John Halifax, Gentleman."
Details
785/0/10144 SHORTLANDS ROAD
22-JAN-08 Shortlands
114
Corner House
II
Originally house, later converted into flats. Designed by Richard Norman Shaw and built 1868-69 for George Lillie Craik and Dinah Maria Craik, an early work in Old English style. The billiard room was added by Shaw in 1872 for the same clients. The building was converted into flats in the 1930s and these additions are of lesser interest.
MATERIALS: Ground floor of red brick in flemish bond and upper floor hung with curved tiles. The tiled roof has ornamental ridge tiles and tall, ribbed brick chimneystacks, some truncated. Windows are mainly wooden mullioned or mullioned and transomed casements, many with leaded lights.
PLAN: An asymmetrical building of two storeys, the principal rooms situated to the south west with the billiard room added on a spur to the north west and the service wing and stable wing arranged around two sides of a yard to the north east, which originally had an enclosing wall. The interior plan comprised a hall with well staircase and cloakroom, library to the south east, with inter-connecting doors to the south west drawing room and dining room opposite the staircase. To the north were the kitchen, larder and scullery and an attached stable wing.
EXTERIOR: The entrance front facing south east is of three bays with a central bay with upper floors projecting and a recessed left bay. The left hand recessed bay has a tile-hung gable with three tier three-light wooden casement window with leaded lights. The ground floor has a five-light mullioned and transomed bay with conical roof, originally to the library. The central entrance bay has a projecting gable with bargeboards and moulded bressumer to the attic and jettied first floor supported on four large curved brackets. The first floor has a six-bay mullioned and transomed oriel window with coved base. The ground floor has a double mullioned and transomed window with trefoil heads and leaded lights adjoining an arched doorocase with panelled door with large ornamental hinges. There is a corner brick buttress and the left return has a three-light mullioned and transomed casement to the ground floor. The right hand bay has a small triple mullioned window to the first floor and triple mullioned and transomed window to the ground floor. The right hand side of the principal part of the house has a truncated chimneystack, some inserted 1930s windows and a 1930s external staircase with solid concrete balustrading. The set-back former kitchen has a four-bay mullioned window to the first floor with leaded lights and projecting mullioned and transomed casement to the ground floor. The projecting north eastern former stable block has a recessed entrance in its south western side. This has a central wooden seat and two separate doors, originally into the scullery and stable wing.
The north western side has a large projecting gable with six-light mullioned and transomed window supported on three wooden brackets and two wooden mullioned and transomed windows to the ground floor. The 1930s projection to the north east is not of special interest.
The south west side of the main house is of three bays with a tall external brick chimneystack and a first floor three-tier, four-light oriel window on brackets under a projecting gable. The ground floor has two mullioned and transomed windows with ornamental wooden blind boxes and a half-glazed door.
The rear or north western elevation of the main house has a tall ribbed brick chimneystack and end channelled brick chimneystack. It is of four bays with left side three-light mullioned and transomed casement and two other smaller casements to the first floor. The ground floor has a four-light mullioned and transomed casement to the right side and an adjoining large porch with mullioned and transomed bay under a tiled roof, the hip supported on wooden piers. Attached to the rear wall of the house is a carved stone tablet with central sunflower flanked by the initials of the owners with the motto, "DEUS HAEC OTIA FECIT/ ANO DNI 1868".
Attached to the north west is one storey former billiard room, of brick in English bond with tiled roof and brick chimneystack to the north. The south west side has a tile-hung gable and two tall three-tier, two-light windows with leaded lights. The north west side has an oval window and large flat-roofed porch with five-light window and doorcase with flat wooden hood and bracket. The north east side has a projecting chimneystack, two casement windows and there is a linking section with C20 windows.
The north west side of the service wing is relatively plain but there is a north east gable with large replaced window.
INTERIOR: The hall has a number of original five-panelled doors but the staircase was removed in the 1930s and replaced by a bedroom. The former library and drawing room have inter-connecting full-height panelled folding doors. The drawing room has a corner marble bolection-moulded fireplace with wooden surround and corner moulded post with shelving between two built-in panelled wooden window seats. The dining room has wide wooden ceiling beams and dado panelling. The principal feature is a large inglenook fireplace with an ogee arch and a wooden overmantel of seven panels, five with high relief carving depicting ribbons, hearts, busts and musical instrucments. The cast iron firelpace has the motto "East or West Hame (sic) is best". The former billiard room retains original fielded panelling with a plate shelf and deep mullion detail to the south west window. A window alcove has a wide beam with spandrels containing octofoil and dagger cutouts. The upper floor of the former stable wing has a visible plain arch and purlins.
HISTORY: The clients were George Lillie Craik (1837-1905) a Glasgow-trained accountant and his wife, and the house cost just under £3000. The Ordnance Survey map of 1868 shows the site was completely rural with no buildings at all before Corner House was built. The house was financed by the earnings of Dinah Maria Craik, nee Mulock (1826-1887) who was a celebrated novelist. Her best known novel, "John Halifax, Gentleman" (1856) was one of the the nineteenth century's best selling books and Corner House was built on the proceeds. She also produced novels about women's issues, essays, travel narratives, poetry, translations and (after the adotion of a baby abandomed in their parish) children's books, including, "The Little Lame Prince and his Travelling Cloak" (1875). Dinah Craik died of heart failure at Corner House on 12th October 1887, while preparing for her daughter's wedding and is buried in Keston churchyard.
The fireplace at Corner House was mentioned in Charles Eastlake's "History of the Gothic Revival" (1872): 'features of a similar kind may be seen at Glen Andred and in Mr Craik's house at Shortlands, both, for their size and in their respective ways, excellent examples of Mr Shaw's skill.'
The second edition OS map of 1896 shows Corner House with its billiard room addition. The footprint of the building changed little except for the demolition of some separate glasshouses to the south west and two service buildings are now in separate ownership and separately numbered (Nos. 110 and 112).
By 1939 the building had been converted into a number of flats. The building was requisitioned for the Canadian Air Force during the Second World War. It is currently divided into seven flats.
SOURCES
R Norman Shaw's drawings of the house and later addition are held at the Royal Academy.
Charles Locke Eastlake, "History of the Gothic Revival", 1872: p344.
Hall Diaries. Bromley Local Studies Library
Andrew Saint, "Richard Norman Shaw", 1975, New Haven: pp.36,95,104,106,116 and original plan.
Cherry and Pevsner "Buildings of England. London: South", 1994: p.194.
Dictionary of National Biography entries on Dinah Maria Craik and Richard Norman Shaw.
REASONS FOR DESIGNATION
The Corner House is designated Grade II, for the following principal reasons:
* It has special architectural interest as an early work in Old English style by the major C19 architect Richard Norman Shaw, built in 1868-69 with billiard room added by him in 1872.
* The exterior is substantially intact apart from some 1930s alterations to the service and stable wing.
* It is built of high quality building materials.
* The plan form survives substantially intact apart from the staircase.
* The interior retains high quality fittings including built-in shelving and window seats, folding doors, panelling and an inglenook fireplace to the dining room, the latter mentioned in Charles Eastlake's "History of the Gothic Revival".
* The house has additional historic interest as the final residence and place of death of the notable Victorian novelist Dinah Maria Craik (nee Mulock) and interestingly the house was built out of the proceeds of her most famous novel, "John Halifax, Gentleman".
