Building record 0839002000 - Rydinghurst House

Rydinghurst House was constructed in a second phase of development at the Epilepsy Colony, between 1896 and 1925. It is a brick building, comprising a two storey front block facing south and single storey rear wings in a Y-plan running north west and north east from the rear. The frontage has a wide brick ground floor 5 window bays wide. At each end of the façade timber oriel windows project forward slightly, echoing the canted bay that forms the central bay. Either side of this are two slightly recessed bays, one containing the entrance doorway in a semi-circular headed opening, the other containing a semi-circular headed window. The upper floor occupies the central 3 bays of the building and is rendered in pebbledash, also with a central projecting canted bay and surmounted with a gable. The tall roof enhances the presence and formality of the building within its naturalistic surroundings. Viewed from the front, the rear ranges are scarcely visible, as was no doubt the intention of the design.
The single storey rear ranges are brick built, in stretcher bond, under high pitched roofs covered with plain clay tiles. The windows are casements with shallow tiled cills. Whilst the rear ranges are largely utilitarian in character, the entrance front is an example of the late Arts and Crafts Movement, albeit with much of the character of good quality suburban housing rather than the highest design quality found in more prestigious buildings (B9).
Rydinghurst House for women was designed in 1907 by Maurice B. Adams (NSE/T/20/1). It is of red brick with a rendered first floor, tile-hung to rear, and a hipped tile roof. It comprises a two-storey core, facing S, with short single-storey wings to N and S, and V-plan dormitories to the rear. The facade of the central block is three bays long. In the central bay is a two-storey canted projection under a gable bearing the date 1908, and to either side on the ground floor are round-headed bays, that on the N
housing the doorway, sheltered by shallow verandahs. These round-headed bays are the only ones to retain the original frames, as the building is currently [1992] undergoing renovation. The short single-storey wings to N and S have canted windows to W, and end stacks. The dormitories are both five bays long with stacks in the centre of their outer walls. They are separated from the main building by a short top-lit stem (B2).