19213

 

II  

Designated  

09/01/1998  

09/01/1998  

Maes Heulyn  

 

Denbighshire  

Trefnant  

Denbigh  

Pont Ruffydd  

307112  

370066  

NE  

Located at the south-eastern border of the community, approximately 2km SE of Trefnant; off the main road at the end of a long drive, set within its own grounds.  

Domestic  

 

Small country house commission, built in 1907 for G Denton Esq. The architect was Sir Edward Guy Dawber, RA, FSA and President of the RIBA, who designed the house in restrained Arts and Crafts vernacular style; the contractor employed was Peter Edwards of Dodleston, Chester. The design provided for all the requirements of a compact, modern Edwardian house and was widely discussed and illustrated in the professional journals of the day as a model for gracious modern living.  

Small country house of two storeys plus attics, with single-storey service range advanced at right-angles to front L. Of rough-cast brick construction with sandstone dressings and a steeply-pitched roof of graded Preseli green slates; plain rendered end and central chimneys. Asymmetrical front with entrance bay between full-height, advanced, gabled projections. To the L of this bay, a slightly-projecting single-storey porch with ashlar surround and recessed, boarded and studded door. Tripartite casement window to R (with 8-pane sections) with similar 4-light window to first-floor above, under the eaves. The L flanking projection has 3-light windows to ground and first floors with a tall, multi-pane oriel stair-light to the R, its upper section with additional flanking 8-pane lights; 2-light casement to the attic, in the gable apex. The R flanking bay has a 2-light first-floor window, as before; flat-roofed, canted dormer to central attic. To the L of the left-hand gabled bay, is a recessed full-height stair tower with hipped roof and casement windows as before. To the L of this is a secondary entrance with flat, bracketed porch canopy and part-glazed door. Six-bay rear (garden) facade with storeyed, canted bay window to the L; deeply-verged gabled roof over. Bay 2 has a multi-pane French window with shaped top and fixed-pane flanking sections; above, a 4-light window under the eaves, with a further, 3-light flat-roofed dormer to the roof. The third is a large projecting bay with deep verges and plain bargeboards to its gable. Five-light wooden mullioned and transomed window to ground floor, with small-pane glazing as before; similar, though projecting 4-light window to first floor, in the form of a shallow, flat oriel. In the gable apex, a hexagonal oculus; 2-light casements to the returns. Further 2-light casements to the first-floor of the remaining bays, with the ground floor of the last two being occupied by a modern conservatory extension. Adjoining the front facade to the L, immediately beyond the service entrance, is a long single-storey service range with 2-light casement at the house end; a garden/forecourt wall continues flush with this for a short distance further, before terminating. In the centre of this stretch of wall is a round-arched garden entrance with boarded door.  

Entrance hall with simply-moulded cornice and picture rail and narrow oak floorboards. Simple architraves with 4-panel doors off hall to parlour (R), dining room (L) and study (opposite entrance); all doors and windows have original brass furniture by Gibbons of Wolverhampton. An open dog-leg stair leads off to the L of the hall, divided from it by 2 segmental arches; that to the L has a moulded oak rail and turned oak balusters of c1700 (reused, though original to the Dawber house). Geometric Jacobean-style newels and pendants to stair proper with handrail and pine turned balusters (copying those of oak). Upper balustraded gallery around stair well, as before. The drawing room has a deep classical cornice and decorative foliate plasterwork in shallow relief to the ceiling; this is in the form of a shouldered band around the sides. Multi-coloured marble fireplace with simply-moulded wooden surround and simple Adamesque frieze, acanthus cornice to mantelpiece. Leading off from the drawing room to the L is a pair of double doors (3 panels each) with 2-pane lead-glazed mullioned windows to either side. This gives onto the study, with simple marble fireplace with reeded and egg-and-dart frieze and moulded mantel shelf; the fireplace sides are lined with C17/C18 polychromed Delft bird tiles. Polished copper and iron grate. Simple moulded cornice to dining room and a lugged fireplace of coloured marble; egg-and-dart decoration and fluted frieze with projecting central section and flanking rosettes, blue and white Delft tiled surround and polished steel hood. Stick-baluster dog-leg back stair at the end of a service corridor; original fittings to front cloakroom/WC.  

Listed as a fine example of the work of Sir Edward Guy Dawber, the eminent Arts and Crafts architect and conservationist.