History

1881; built for his own use by Mr. William White, a local builder and inventor of 'Hygeia Rock'. This material (published British Patent No 4065 of 1881) is thought to have been used in Underground railway tunnels, partly as it combined special sound and damp-proofing properties. It was manufactured in single storey red brick outbuildings in the garden to No. 24 on the east of the house, now redeveloped. The house appears to have been very little altered since building. The garden wall observed during the 1979 inspection has now been replaced.

Exterior

House of basement, two storeys and attic with half-timbered yellow brick wall finish, mostly painted, with internal 'Hygeia Rock' cavity fill; fancy gables with bargeboards; mullioned windows, some with transoms; red plaintile roof with crest tiles; rendered stacks set diamondwise in groups of two or three.
West elevation parallel to road with south timber-framed gabled cross-wing with 2-light transomed windows except to attic, single on ground floor and paired on first floor. Adjoining the north side of the gable there is an ornate timber-framed 2-storey 3-bay verandah, the ground floor with glazed infilling and with flight of steps to centre door. Timber-framed rear wall on first floor. Wide dormer of four lights and two half-lights, with hipped roof facing forward.
South entrance elevation with centre gable with right hand 3-light ground floor window with stained glass lights above the transom and left hand flight of steps up to entrance arch before doorway with two half-glazed doors with stained glass lights. Two-light transomed window to first floor, and 2-light attic window above in plain gable; further 2-light window and gabled dormer with 2-light window facing west. To east of gable, the main house is set slightly back with two 2-light stained glass mullioned windows below a 3-light canted oriel with sidelights on brackets to first floor with main roof sloping down over it. To west of gable, a 3-light transomed ground floor window, but this is hidden inside a timber lean-to conservatory. Blind wall to gabled wing above.
North elevation to garden with 2-storey centre timber-framed 6-light canted bay window, the ground floor lights with stained glass overlights above transoms. The top of the bay window crowned by gable with decorative timber-framed panelling at its base and with rectangular oriel bay window with arch braced bargeboard with cusped head and kingpost. Adjoining the west side of the gable is the side return of the two storey verandah (see west elevation above). To the east side of the gable, the house is set back with a 2-light window above and below and with a gabled dormer with a 2-light window and finial to apex.

Interior

Interior not inspected at resurvey, but the listing inspection in 1979 reported 'Contemporary internal features include full height stair-case hall; cantilevered staircase with closed string and boarded soffit to treads, with straight balusters and chamfered newels with finials. Doors with chamfered framing to inset boarded panels. Drawing Room ceiling with elaborately moulded beams framing removable square wooden boarded panels. Complete Minton tile fireplace surrounds in good condition in e.g. Study, Master Bedroom, Dining Room and Smoke Lounge (room names from 1898 sale catalogue) with a separate narrative series to most fireplaces. Stained glass upper lights to doors and windows. Tiled floors.'

Reasons for Listing

Included for its special historic interest as a large Victorian house designed as an advertisement for the use of a patent building material 'Hygeia Rock' and lived in by its inventor.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q29482761

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

• 
  Devon (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living
• 
  The Listed Buildings and Other Principal Structures at the Royal Gunpowder Mills Waltham Abbey
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of Historic Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)