Description

ST HILARY PRUSSIA' COVE
SW 52 NE
3/164 Porth-en-Alls

GV II*

House. Datestone 1906, mostly rebuilt 1910-1914. The rebuilding designed and the
work supervised by Philip Tilden a distant relative of T.T. Behrens for whom the
house was built. Built on the site of a house that was the home of John Carter (King
of Prussia). Granite rubble and granite dressings, some rock-faced (from Tregonning
Hill), partly cavity walls, leaded bronze windows in teak frames, reinforced concrete
floors overlaid with oak boards within and joinery of English oak. The gable-ended
roofs are stone slate from the Forest of Dean laid to diminishing courses with swept
valleys and hipped roof dormers. Glazed roof over the squash court. Lateral and
axial dressed stone chimneys, 3 with moulded cornices.
Plan: The house is built into the cliff with its garden front at a lower level facing
south to the sea and the entrance is at a higher level on the west side facing the
chauffeur's lodge (Porth-en-Alls Lodge qv) which is built into the cliff behind. Y-
shaped plan, built into the bedrock at the elliptical-on-plan entrance courtyard
front with ground level to attic gable entrance. Single storey wing at left of
entrance courtyard and taller single-storey plus attic wing, right of the entrance
courtyard; wings set at right angles to each other and with 2 storey plus attic
principal range on lower ground beyond making the shaft of the Y. The main range is
2 rooms wide under parallel roofs returned at the front and rear. The first floor
plan is the only floor which encompasses the whole house, and this floor contains the
4 principal wider rooms on the right hand side (south) including large drawing room
with 2 bay windows flanking a balcony. The balcony and windows are carried on a 3-
bay arcade. In the left hand wing is a former squash court, stair hall is at the
rear left of a passage. The front of this passage (under the forecourt) is lit by a
pogoda-like lantern. Left of the squash court is a 2 storey former workshop block.
There was intended to be a great hall adjoining the rear (east) of the house but work
was curtailed by the first world war. English vernacular revival style.
Exterior : West entrance front at the higher level leads off from a circular
courtyard (for turning vehicles) on the opposite side of which is Porth-en-Alls Lodge
qv. A smaller courtyard (roof terrace), flanked by 2 round-on-plan gate piers, leads
to the main entrance doorway in the front gable end of the principal 2-storey plus
'attic range. Moulded shallow-arched doorway with hoodmould/string on corbels over
and oculus window to coped ashlar gable above. Original heavy panelled door.
The ground is at a lower level on the south seaward side. 2 storeys plus attic. 5
window garden front (2:1:3 bays). Doorway to middle bay behind 3-bay Romanesque
style arcade to ground floor, right. Balcony over the doorway flanked by 3-light bay
windows with mullions and transoms. 3-light mullioned window to each first floor bay
left with doorway between the left hand bays and corbelled sundial over. Hipped
attic dormers behind parapet with moulded cornice. The other elevations have
irregularly disposed features in similar style.
Interior : original unpainted mortar and timber surfaces with structural elements
freely displayed and exploited to give vitality to the internal spaces. Carefully
detailed C17 style joinery: moulded 2-panel doors with moulded architraves with
corner and rail blocks; heavy chamfered balusters to stair; Classical style
chimneypiece of red Sicilian marble to the drawing; other C17 domestic style and
Classical style details and some C15 style linen-fold panelling including a sliding
door with linenfold panelling.
Porth-en-Alls is a remarkable C20 house incorporating many advanced technical
innovations including the use of ferro-concrete. The real charm of the house,
however, is the imaginative and ingenious way the house fits the awkward site and the
varied use of materials and style.

Listing NGR: SW5583727953

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17532340

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

• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Sheffield and the South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Care and Repair
• 
  Development and Design of Heritage Sensitive Sites: Strategies for Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas
• 
  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)
• 
  Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes (For Pros By Pros)