Survey Data
Reg No
11903504
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Historical, Social
Original Use
Farm house
In Use As
Farm house
Date
1680 - 1720
Coordinates
269979, 195822
Date Recorded
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Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Detached three-bay two-storey over raised basement house, c.1700, originally on a U-shaped plan with pair of three-bay three-storey returns to rear to north-east. Renovated and extended, c.1800, with single-storey prostyle tetrastyle Tuscan portico added to centre approached by flight of steps, two-bay full-height bowed projecting bay added to side elevation to north-west and single-bay three-storey infill return added to rear to north-east. Part refenestrated, c.1965. Gable-ended roofs with slate (three running perpendicular to main ridge to returns to north-east; half-conical to bowed projecting bay). Clay ridge tiles. Roughcast chimney stacks. Rendered eaves band. Cast-iron rainwater goods on brackets. Flat-roof to portico behind parapet wall. Roughcast walls. Painted. Cut-stone portico with Tuscan columns, frieze and pierced parapet wall over. Square-headed openings. Stone sills. Early 3/3 and 6/6 timber sash windows. Some replacement aluminium casement windows, c.1965, to all elevations. Square-headed door opening approached by flight of ten cut-granite steps. Replacement glazed timber panelled double doors, c.1965. Set back from road in own landscaped grounds. Gravel forecourt to front. Group of detached outbuildings, c.1800, to north-east about a courtyard comprising: Detached six-bay two-storey outbuilding to north-west. Now disused and part derelict. Gable-ended roof with slate. Clay ridge tiles. Cut-stone coping to gables. Rendered band to eaves. Rainwater goods now gone. Rendered walls over rubble stone construction. Painted/limewashed. Square-headed openings (some slit openings to first floor and to rear elevation to north-west). Stone sills. Exposed lintels (originally concealed). No fittings. Moulded cut-stone block-and-start doorcases. No fittings. Detached three-bay two-storey cut-stone outbuilding to north-east with segmental-headed integral carriageway to left. Gable-ended roof with slate. Clay ridge tiles. Vents to apex. Cast-iron rainwater goods. Coursed cut-stone walls. Square-headed openings (including door opening to first floor to gable end to north-west). No sills. Yellow brick block-and-start surrounds. Louvered timber panelled fittings. Segmental-headed integral carriageway. Yellow brick dressings. Corrugated-iron doors. Detached four-bay two-storey rubble stone outbuilding to north-east with group of four elliptical-headed integral carriageways to ground floor. Reroofed, c.1930. Gable-ended roof. Replacement corrugated-iron, c.1930. Iron ridge tiles. Iron rainwater goods. Rubble stone walls. Red brick dressings including quoins to corners. Square-headed window openings. Stone sills. Red brick surrounds. Louvered timber panelled fittings. Elliptical-headed integral carriageways. Red brick surrounds. No fittings. Detached seven-bay two-storey rubble stone outbuilding to south-east with pair of round-headed door openings and pair of elliptical-headed integral carriageways to right. Reroofed, c.1930. Gable-ended roof. Replacement corrugated-iron, c.1930. Iron ridge tiles. Iron rainwater goods. Rubble stone walls. Cut-stone quoins. Square-headed window openings. Stone sills. Red brick surrounds. 4/4 timber sash windows in tripartite style with 2/2 side panes. Round-headed door openings. Moulded cut-stone architraves, lintels and archivolts over with keystones. Red brick dressings to arches. Timber boarded half-doors. Overlights. Elliptical-headed integral carriageways. Red brick dressings. Recessed reveals. No fittings. Gateway, c.1800, to west comprising pair of cut-stone piers with stringcourses having wrought iron gates.
Appraisal
Geraldine House is an attractive and well-maintained substantial building that comprises one of the earliest surviving houses in the vicinity of Athy. Extended and refurbished in subsequent centuries, this serves to highlight the shifts in trends and fashions, while the additions complement rather than detract from the original appearance of character of the building. Originally composed on a symmetrical plan, centred about a door opening, the house now boasts an unusual, elevated portico and a commanding bowed projecting bay to the side elevation. The house retains some important early salient features, including multi-pane timber sash fenestration and a slate roof. Set attractively in its own grounds the estate is supplemented by a formal courtyard to north-east containing a U-shaped complex of outbuildings, which are individually of architectural importance. The range to south-east is particularly noteworthy and incorporates fine cut-stone doorcases, which are unusually refined if intended for stable use as indicated by the half-door fittings: similar doorcases, but square-headed and without overlights, are located in the range opposite. These ranges, together with the main house, are of considerable social interest and provide an example of an almost intact early eighteenth-century working farm. The estate is announced on the side of the road by a fine, if simple gateway, of cut-stone piers and early surviving iron work.