Description

MAYFIELD WEST STREET
TQ 5826
(south side)
40/961
West Wood St Dunstan
- II

Large house. c.1902 by W H Romaine-Walker for himself. Coursed squared sandstone
to ground floor; 1st floor pebbledashed above moulded timber bressummer; renewed
tile roof; brick chimneys. U-shaped plan, open on south-east (garden) side, with
side-outshut (service wing) on west side. 2 storeys, 5 bays with 1-bay side out-
shut. In Arts and Crafts style having: Tudor-arched doorways with decorative
spandrals and nail-studded board doors with cover strips; wooden mullioned
windows, on ground floor with transoms, having leaded casements with decorative
catches and some with reset stained or painted glass medallions (some with C17
dates); rafter ends visible at eaves; ribbed and corniced clustered chimney-
stacks. Garden elevation: 1st floor jettied; gables have decorative open-work
bargeboards and finials with pendants. Main range of 3 bays, has 4-light bay
windows in angles with wings and 6-light central window; continuous window to 1st
floor. Wings: left wing is taller and longer than right wing; each has a 4-light
window to each floor of gable end; right wing has a door to its inner return, and
the left wing a 4-light bay window, a door, and on 1st floor two 3-light windows
set in gables, the gable on right with bird holes. On left of left wing is
formerly open-fronted loggia, now glazed conservatory, with restored wooden frame-
work supporting roof. A stack to ridge of main range and each wing. Rear
(entrance) elevation: projecting jettied gabled left bay has a 3-light window to
each floor. next 2 bays have fire-back projection with offset top, 1-light window
with old glass to far right, and two 4-light flat-roofed dormers. Gabled bay 4
has 3-light 1st floor window but is largely masked by 2-storey gabled porch.
Porch: upper part of ground floor originally open, now glazed, with turned
balusters; 2-light window to gable; doorway to left return having decorative arch
with pineapple pendant and grotesques; internal door flanked by side-lights. Bay
5 has 1-light window; and the brick outshut a round-arched doorway. Right return:
flat-roofed 4-light bay window to left; 3-light window to right; on 1st floor,
central 2-light window below gable. Left return (side outshut): of brick with
various small-pane wooden casement windows and flat-roofed dormers; one curious
dormer in tile-hung half-gable abutting tall chimney on left, and one in pebble-
dashed gable near top of roof. Interior: good quality interior survives well,
including: panelled doors and window reveals; fireplaces with tile or marble
surrounds, architraves and metal grates; tiled bathrooms with original baths.
Sitting room, in Jacobean style, has panelling with low-relief-decorated pilasters
with lions' heads above and modillion cornice; running-pomegranite plaster frieze;
decorative plaster ceiling with panels containing flora and fauna reliefs and
pendants; stone fireplace with low-relief-decorative flanking pilasters and
columns at front which support entablature. Jacobean-style wooden stair rises
from sitting room and has balusters forming arched panels; relief-decorated
finialed newels, and late-C18-style balustrade to lst-floor landing. In Dining
Room, walls hung with original tapestry; bolection-moulded architraves; elaborate
fireplace; and coved ceiling. In principal bedroom cupboards flanking fireplace
have delicate metalwork fronts. This is a high quality Arts and Crafts house by a
major society architect of the period. From 1956-86 it was the home of
General Glubb (Glubb Pasha).

Listing NGR: TQ5830026762

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26278925

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cork: City and County (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990: Updated version
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair