Description

SX 68 NE CHAGFORD

3/24 Ford Park including terrace - along front

- II

Artists house. Late C19, designed by Robert Stark as his own residence. Mostly roughcast but some exposed granite rubble with rusticated granite quoins; granite rubble stacks topped with cream-coloured machine brick chimney shafts; slate roof. Plan. The house stands on a terrace cut into a steep slope. The plan is basically L-shaped but its layout is singular. The main room (drawing room or principal parlour) is in the angle of the wings. It projects forwards (eastwards) a short distance and it has a bay window projecting diagonally from the south-east corner. To right (north) of this is the east-facing main front overlooking the valley and contains from left to right first the main stair behind a lobby called the dining room, than a small study in front of the entrance lobby and, at the end, a large north-facing studio. Behind (west) of the main room there is a parlour and the service rooms which return northwards a short distance at the back. Most of the rooms are heated by axial stacks. 2 storeys with an attic room over the studio. The exterior is dominated by the 2-storey bay across the south-eastern corner. On the ground floor is a large 4-light granite window with chamfered mullions and side lights, and a matching timber casement on the first floor. First floor timber balcony supported on granite corbels. It has exposed joists and has a spat baluster balustrade. Plain corner posts rise to carry the sprocketted eaves of the hipped roof which are carried out over the balcony. The ridges finish at the eaves with wrought iron coiled finials. The east block has a 2-window front of casements with a third to the studio to right. Those on the first floor have gables over. 4-bay verandah across the front is carried on granite posts. The south front also contains casements with rusticated granite architraves and the parlour here has a 4-light window with chamfered mullions and plain hoodmould. The north end of the studio has an enormous full height 6-light window with slender timber mullions and transoms. The gable above is weather boarded and contains a canted bay window. A shelter to rear of the studio and main door was open and carried on a series of granite posts but the sides have since been filled. All the windows are plate glass and it is not known how they were glazed originally. Unaltered interior. It is deliberately plain and where there is detail it is Tudor in style. The staircase, for instance, has an open well, newel posts with moulded caps and spat balusters. The reception room is the best in the house. The joists are exposed but there is a coved cornice and it includes arch-headed niches across each corner. The walls have plain wainscotting and the north wall has the pilasters flanking replacement book shelves. The Tudor style fireplace of reconstituted stone is secondary. Parquet floor. The spacious, light and full height studio is most impressive. Across the front of the house is a terrace made from blocks of granite including steps down to the lawn below. This is an important house; a rare example of a purpose-built artists house built in a individual style. it should be kept as such. Robert Stark was an artist and sculptor working at the turn of the century. He built the house for himself and laid out the fine landscaped grounds which are almost Alpine in terms of the site having herbaceous planting and overlooking a small lake with woodland around. Although Robert Stark is little known today his daughter Freya is the famous travel writer. She spent her early years here and remembers the place with affection in her autobiography. She now lives in Italy with some of the furniture built for Ford Park.

Listing NGR: SX6749986238

External Links

• Wikidata Q26459469

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Recommended Books

• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Worcestershire Revised Edition (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Yorkshire: York and the East Riding (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Period property manual, victorian house manual 2 books collection set by ian rock
• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)