Details
SKUTTERSKELFE SKUTTERSKELFE PARK
NZ 40 NE 484071
5/116 Skutterskelfe Hall, The
Butler's Pantry, Rosedene
23.6.66 and Briardene
- II*
House, 1838 by Salvin for the 10th Viscount Falkland. Porch added and interior
remodelled in later C19. Now office block with 3 dwellings. Sandstone ashlar,
herringbone-tooled sandstone to Rosedene and Briardene; graduated Lakeland slate
roof. Classical style. U-plan. Entrance front 2 storeys, 7 bays with slightly
recessed centre. Plinth, quoins, first-floor band and cill string, deep eaves
cornice and parapet with balustraded panels and top cornice. 3-bay projecting
porch has detached Tuscan columns, entablature with dentil cornice and open
segmental pediment with achievement of arms. Half-glazed double door, under
segment-headed overlight, between matching sidelights, all openings in
architraves with keystones rising to cornice. Similar windows in returns;
balustraded parapet. Ground floor plain sash windows in architraves with
moulded cills and apron panels. First floor 12-pane sashes in architraves,
bracketed below cill string. Central sash, on raised panel, has
console-bracketed cornice and segmental pediment. 2 corniced transverse stacks
near centre of roof. 5-bay left return similar except for central ground-floor
window with swell frieze and cornice. Set back on left a domestic wing of 2
lower storeys; plinth, first-floor cill string, cornice and blocking course,
12-pane sashes. Right return largely concealed by extensions: a) 1-storey l-bay
link to The Butler's Pantry, a 1-storey flat-roofed 2-bay apartment stepped back
to right. Glazed door with tall overlight; 12-pane sashes in apartment and
link. Glazed door and modern casement on right return which joins b) Rosedene
and Briardene: 2 low storeys, 6 irregular bays. One 4-panel door, one French
door and one boarded door; windows mostly 12-pane sashes above and plain sashes
or casements below. Elevations to courtyard: Left side is rear of Rosedene and
Briardene: l½ storeys on basement, rising to 2 storeys, with varied doors and
windows. Centre is rear of The Butler's Pantry: 4 bays: 12-pane sashes and
central inserted French door. Right bay is part of main house. Right side of
courtyard is rear of main house. Principal feature is a 3½ storey staircase
tower with floor cornices, 12-pane sashes and a low-pitched tower with floor
cornices, 12-pane sashes and a low-pitched pyramidal roof with deep eaves soffit
on long brackets. 3 blank wall panels below it at the back. From this a narrow
linking bay, of 3 lower storeys, and a 2-storey right part, lead to a 1-storey
stable-garage range partly enclosing the courtyard at the back. Mostly sash
windows with glazing bars; 3 inserted garage doors. The 2-storey section has
pedimented end. Interior: high-quality Victorian decoration lovingly restored
throughout. tiled entrance hall with panelled dado and French-style rococo
marble fireplace. Polished oak double entrance doors. Drawing-room to left has
larger similar fireplace and lavish rococo plasterwork including ceiling rose
and outer panels with foliage and shells, floral wall panels with serpentine
heads and shorter panels over doors and below windows. Panelled dado and window
shutters. Dining-room to right of hall retains its 1838 plaster cornice and
frieze with acanthus and festoons. Panelled dado. Both rooms, have 6-panel oak
doors with elaborate hinges and lockplates; similar but plainer doors
elsewhere. At end of dining-room an elaborate 5-bay carved oak bookcase, with
nodding central coat-of-arms and carved heads to all sections, probably removed
from library at rear of house where its sister remains. Panelled shutters and
reveals; carved rococo pelments over all 3 windows. Cantilevered open-well
staircase through 2 floors, the upper flight an exact reproduction of the lower;
slightly-ramped handrail,
carved newel and cast iron balustrade with linked units, sloped on flight,
curved outwards to bottom curtail step. Panelled dado; arcaded 2-x3-bay top
lantern with barrelled roof. In library a plaster ceiling similar to drawing-
room but simpler; and the other great bookcase holding a concealed door with
mock shelves of books.
Listing NGR: NZ4837207084
