Harvard House Stratford-upon-Avon, England

Text courtesy of Historic England. © Crown Copyright, reprinted under the Open Government License.

STRATFORD-UPON-AVON

SP2054NW HIGH STREET 604-1/10/123 (West side) 25/10/51 No.26 Harvard House

GV I

House. C15; front, dated 1596, largely rebuilt after fire of 1595, when rear extended; C18 and C19 rear additions; restored 1905-9, for Marie Corelli and Everard Morris, and 1980s; being extensively restored April 1991. Timber-frame with plaster infill on rubble plinth; tile roof with rear brick stacks. Right-angle plan. 2 storeys with attic; single-window range. 1st and 2nd storeys are jettied on consoles; gable with enriched barge-boards. Entrance to right has Tudor-headed wide-board studded door with strap hinges and 6-pointed handle plate. 5-light wooden ovolo-mullioned and transomed windows with leaded glazing; that to ground floor with enriched sill, that to 1st floor is consoled oriel, that to 2nd floor is bracketed oriel with lean-to roof. Timber-framing is enriched with a great variety of carved decoration: ground floor has consoles with figures; 1st floor has enriched timber-framing, bressumer and consoles, fleurs-de-lys flank lettering: TR: AR: 1596 (Thomas and Ann Rogers); 2nd floor similar, enriched bressumer, masks to window brackets and some decorative framing over window. The plaster panels were sunk and carved with various patterns in 1972. Stack has 2 shafts with triangular fillets. Narrow left return has enriched rainwater gear. Rear has 2-storey gabled wing with single-storey range and 2-storey cross-range; timber-frame with brick infill; 2-light windows. Cross wing has segmental-headed entrance with heavy frame to door and segmental-headed entry with gate; later entrance and window; rear has some square framing. INTERIOR: rubble cellar with winding stair and C20 joists on girder. Ground floor, much altered, has exposed beams, mid C17 dogleg stair with square newels, moulded balusters and handrail. 1st floor has front room with late C16 panelling with fluted frieze, 6-panel door; fireplace has elliptical brick arch and plaster overmantel with 3 shields, in scrolly frame, with fleur-de-lys, lion rampant reversed and rose (cf work in No.6 Wood St (qv) and Packwood House); chamfered beam and stop-chamfered joists. Room behind has doorway with slightly ogee head and 2 rear doorways with 4-centred heads; panel of ex-situ stained glass quarries with flowers. 2nd-floor front room has some square panelling and plastered wall with remains of red-lined pattern imitating panelling; fireplace and renewed roof truss; wide-board door; 3 gabled valley dormers to left return. HISTORICAL NOTE: formerly the home of Catherine Rogers, mother of John Harvard, the founder of Harvard University USA. It was restored by the novelist Marie Corelli, the work financed by Everard Morris of Chicago, and presented to Harvard University for use by students and visiting Americans. (Buildings of England: Pevsner N: Warwickshire: Harmondsworth: 1966-: 418; Bearman R: Stratford-upon-Avon: A History of its Streets and Buildings: Nelson: 1988-: 39-40; VCH (offprint): Styles P: The Borough of Stratford-upon-Avon and the Parish of Alveston: London: 1946-: 10; Forrest H E: The Old Houses of Stratford-upon-Avon: London: 1925-: 73-5).

Listing NGR: SP2011354880