Summerhouse at Upper Cobb House

Summary

Summerhouse. Built before 1928 by architect Arnold Mitchell for himself.

Reasons for Designation

The summerhouse in the garden of Upper Cobb House, built in the early C20, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural quality:

* it is a picturesque garden building that embodies the Arts and Crafts movement throughout and is of evident architectural quality;

* it displays simple but good-quality detailing and decorative features which give the building aesthetic distinction.

Historic interest:

* for Mitchell’s standing as a C20 architect working mostly in the classical and Arts and Crafts traditions.

Group value:

* it takes a key position overlooking the sea in the garden of Upper Cobb House and forms an interesting and important group with the Grade II* listed house, and with the Grade II listed Umbrella Cottage which originally formed part of the ensemble.

History

Upper Cobb House, formerly known as Higher Cliff Lodge and then as Little Cliff, is located on the western outskirts of Lyme Regis. The house is situated within a long, narrow, sloping plot with a series of south-facing terraced gardens to the rear. There are views to the sea from the rear of the house and its gardens. It is a relatively compact building, described as a marine villa (Felus, see Sources), that was built in the grounds of High Cliff (listed at Grade II), a large villa of around 1811-1815 situated on the opposite side of Sidmouth Road. Upper Cobb House was built after 1809 since it is not on the First Series Ordnance Survey map (sheet 22, published 1809) but existed probably by the mid-1820s when it appears to be depicted on a watercolour attributed to Thomas Daniell and dated 1824-1826 (Felus). A sale advertisement for High Cliff from 1825 (Dorset County Chronicle July 1825) mentions a second lot, described as a ‘small …. messuage lying opposite the Mansion House,’ (High Cliff) ‘with useful outhouses, and a walled garden’. This is likely to be Upper Cobb House. In 1829 the lease for the High Cliff estate was bought by John Stein. Ten years later Stein sold High Cliff but retained Upper Cobb House for his mother-in-law (Charmouth Local History Society, see Sources).

The Tithe Map of 1841 depicts Upper Cobb House, and several outbuildings, including a small circular structure (Umbrella Cottage, listed Grade II) to the north-west. A glasshouse or conservatory was built against the west side of the house before and replaced an earlier structure shown on the tithe map. The 1887 (first Epoch) Ordnance Survey map also shows a large glasshouse and several other structures in the garden which are no longer extant in their original form.

Upper Cobb House was bought by the successful Arts and Crafts architect Arnold Mitchell and his wife Edith, initially probably as a holiday home, moving there permanently around 1925 or 1926. Before establishing his own practice in Harrow in 1886, Arnold Bidlake Mitchell (1864-1944) had been articled to Robert Stark Wilkinson and was then assistant to the successful London practice Ernest George and Peto, amongst others. His commissions included private houses, many of which were in the Home Counties and featured in the contemporary architectural press, and education buildings. He also worked internationally, including a seaside villa for King Leopold II of Belgium. After buying Upper Cobb House, Mitchell added a single-storey wing in 1922 which included a domed billiard room 'of presidential proportions' (Sherriff) to the east side of the house and he refurbished the interior, adding ornate plasterwork ceilings and various other features.

Mitchell also added a small summerhouse or lookout at the southern end of the garden. It is first depicted on the Ordnance Survey map (25 inch to the mile) which was revised 1928 and published in 1929. It shows the summerhouse and another building (not extant) at the south-west and south-east corners of the garden respectively.

Details

Summerhouse. Built before 1928 by architect Arnold Mitchell for himself.

MATERIALS
The building is constructed of limestone ashlar and stone rubble under a slate roof.

PLAN
It is rectangular on plan.

EXTERIOR
It is a picturesque little building of one and a half storeys in the Arts and Crafts style, with continuous fenestration to the south elevation and the south-east and south-west corners. The west and south walls have been built onto an existing boundary wall, and the lower part of the building is built of random stone rubble and the upper part is ashlar. The hipped roof has very deep overhanging eaves; offset at the south-west corner. There are five metal-framed, two-light casement windows which each have six pane lights and are set within a mullioned timber surround. There are no windows to the north elevation, only a doorway at first-floor level. This is approached from a flight of concrete steps with metal handrails and decorative balustrading. The simple plank door has decorative iron hinges and a drop handle.

INTERIOR
There is one room within the building and a small storage area below that is accessed from behind the steps. The room has painted walls, a small fixed stone shelf to one wall, and a floor of shuttered concrete. The ceiling is canted and has a plaster frame of stylised floral and foliate designs with foliate motifs at the corners.


This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 7 February 2025 to correct the postcode

Sources

Books and journals
‘Fecundity’ and ‘Versatility’ in an Early Twentieth-Century Architect in Architectural History, ,Vol. 55, (2022), 199-235
Obituary in The Builder, ,Vol. 167, (1944), 375
Monique Bellingham – Lyme’s Canadienne in The Village Echo, Journal of the Charmouth Local History Society, ,Vol. 42, (2015), 12-21

Other
Dr K Felus, July 2024, Upper Cobb House, Lyme Regis: A Marine Villa Development and Context

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