Lotus, formerly Cotsmoor

Summary

An Arts and Crafts house designed in c.1920 by the architect Thomas Falconer.

Reasons for Designation

Lotus, formerly Cotsmoor, an Arts and Crafts house of c.1920 by Thomas Falconer (1879-1934), is listed at Grade II, for the following principal reasons:
* Architectural interest: the house is a good example of Falconer’s Arts and Crafts interpretation of Cotswold vernacular building. It has an interesting, varied design with careful proportions, good external detailing and strict adherence to traditional materials and craftsmanship;
* Interior: the interior demonstrates good quality in its spare but neatly-detailed architectural style, clear evidence of its traditional construction, and retains its Arts and Crafts windows, stone fireplaces, plank and batten doors with decorative hinges and other joinery. Decorative plaster ceilings remain in the principal rooms;
* Intactness: although the garage has been adapted, and some room layouts have been altered, the house and its fittings remain remarkably intact.

History

Lotus, an Arts and Crafts house, was built in c.1920 to the designs of the architect Thomas Falconer. It has previously been known as Rodborough Crest (before 1926, and not to be confused with the house of this name on the same road), Cotsmoor and Vaikuntha.
Thomas Falconer (1879-1934) was a well known local Arts and Crafts architect. Before setting up practice in nearby Amberley, Gloucestershire, Falconer worked for Ernest George. From 1917 to 1928 he was in partnership with Harold Baker and from 1922 also worked with John Campbell under the name Falconer, Baker and Campbell. He is well known for his restoration and extension work, which includes that to Amberley Farmhouse of 1931-2 (C17, listed at Grade II), and that to The Shard, 1923 (late-C17 house, listed at Grade II). He also designed the Church of Saint Alban in Stroud of 1914-16 (listed at Grade II), and the War Memorial at The Grove in Selsley, erected in 1919-20 (listed at Grade II). Lotus is one of a number of private houses he designed in the Rodborough area.

Lotus first appears, unnamed, on the Ordnance Survey map of 1923. Some internal alterations may have been made in the later C20, notably to the garage range.

Details

A house, in Cotswold Arts and Crafts style, dating from c.1920, by the architect Thomas Falconer (1879-1934).

MATERIALS: local oolitic limestone, with clay tile roofs, ashlar dressings and stone stacks.

PLAN: an irregular rectangle on plan, with two rear attached wings, and attached to a garage range to the east.

EXTERIOR: the principal elevation is of two storeys plus attic, under a steeply pitched roof with two stone stacks, two dormer windows to the left, and curved eaves. The central and left bays have bay windows to the ground floor and tripartite windows above. The right bay has two sets of two-light windows, spaced apart, below a first-floor tripartite window. The main entrance is in the east flank wall with an oak projecting porch under a pitched tile roof. The oak front door is iron-studded. The rear wings are single-storey plus attic with dormer windows in the roof slopes, stone stacks and curved eaves. There tripartite windows to the ground floor. The windows to the building have stone mullions and leaded panes. The eaves are supported by stone corbels and the elevations have ashlar quoins.

INTERIOR: as the building has not been inspected, it is not possible to make a detailed description of the interior. However, photographs and descriptions included within the recent particulars (2013) show large-section chamfered oak beams with bar stops and original oak fittings including a main stair, doors, skirting boards, herringbone floors, window seats, and a built-in cupboard. In addition, there are Cotswold-stone chimneypieces in the principal ground floor rooms and some bedrooms, and decorative ceiling plasterwork in the principal rooms.

THE GARAGE: a single-storey stone-built structure, the rear of which has been converted to provide accommodation. It is linked with the main house via a covered courtyard.

Sources

Books and journals
Verey, D, Brooks, A, The Buildings of England Gloucestershire I: The Cotswolds, (2002), 581

Other
Glos Archives D2299/4008: sales particulars – Cotsmoor formerly Rodborough Crest 1926,

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