Description

EAST BUDLEIGH EXMOUTH ROAD, Knowle
ST 08 SE
Leeford House
6/66
11.ll.52
GV II
House. Mid C19, refurbished in neo-Georgian style circa 1930. Plastered brick;
brick stacks; most plastered; slate roof.
House faces south-east. The main block is double depth with a front and back room
either side of the entrance hall and staircase. These rooms have side stacks.
Either end is a circa 1930 single storey 1-room wing projecting a little forward
from the main front and linked by a circa 1930 colonnade across the front. From
each end of the back there are rear service blocks set at right angles, each served
by a stack backing onto the main block. The left (south-western) block is extended
2 more rooms with axial stack between and set further out than the first room and
returning north-eastwards with another service room. Main block is 2 storeys with
attics, flanking wings are single storey, and rear service wings are 2 storeys.
Symmetrical 1:3:1 window front. Central front door behind a C20 shallow porch with
canted sides, moulded entablature and double panelled doors. It is flanked by large
horned sashes without glazing bars and the first floor has 12-pane sashes (probably
original). Across the front, between the wings, is a circa 1930 Doric hexastyle
portico in the form of a colonnade in antis on 2 stone steps and with a moulded
entablature. Moulded eaves cornice with plain parapet over and roof is half-hipped
each end. The C20 flanking wings are built in a similar style. To the front each
has a large mullion-and-transom window with glazing bars. The moulded entablature
of the portico colonnade is carried across the wings and the parapet above has urns
on the corners. Their roofs are hipped front and back. On their outer sides the
wings have 2 more mullion-and-transom windows. In the end walls of the main block
the attics are lit by elliptical-headed windows containing C19 sashes with Y tracery
glazing bars at the top. The service wings contain C20 casements with glazing bars
and the roofs have hipped ends.
Interior. The principal rooms of the main block include some original joinery
detail including panelled doors and the entrance hall has a vaulted ceiling.
However most of the detail was introduced in the C20. The open string stair is
geometric but has early C18 looking twisted balusters although the mahogany handrail
and fluted newel post are C19. The neo-Georgian moulded plaster cornices are C20
and the inlaid marble chimneypieces are introduced. The rear service blocks may be
earlier but no carpentry detail is exposed. Roofs not inspected.
Leeford House is attractively situated in spacious landscaped grounds. The C20 neo-
Georgian refurbishment and extensions were well-conceived.

Listing NGR: SY0477582598

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26389786

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

• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy
• 
  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)
• 
  Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Gloucestershire 2: The Vale and The Forest of Dean: Vale and Forest of Dean Pt. 2 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Surrey (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)