Work continues at Gordon House

The work on Gordon House, on Ham Common, has been going on for a long time and it is almost a year since I last posted and update. Finding the fate half open was just the excuse I needed to post another one.

The new garage on the left is the most (only?) noticeable change. Elsewhere the plastic sheeting is still in place at the back of the house.

Update on Gordon House

It has been almost exactly a year since I posted an update on the major refurbishment and extension of Gordon House simply because while the works have clearly been extensive they have also been mostly hidden behind the high hoardings. And so it was a relief to finally find the large gates open when walking past.

It looks as though the refurbishment of the original house is all but finished, the extension is well underway and work is just starting on a new garage.

Porch reconstruction

Most of the work on Gordon House is hidden behind hoardings so it is nice to be able to see the scope of the work being done to the porch through the front gate.

Hoarding upgrade

The hoarding at Gordon House on Ham Common that has been in place since July has been upgraded with a layer of aluminium. I caught it while it was being installed and still had the Skybord branding on the protective coating showing. That has now gone leaving the same monochrome colour as the original hoarding behind it, which I like to think of as British Racing Green,

Tree at risk

One of the planning applications submitted for the various works at Gordon House is 24/T0614/TCA which is for the removal of a few trees, including this one. It would be a shame to see it go as it has a positive impact on that part of the Common.

Re-refurbishing Gordon House

This photograph was taken a little while ago and since then the scaffolding has grown to cover the front of the house making it even more obvious that this is a substantial project.

I am surprised at the scope of the work being done as the previous owner did a lot of work ony eight years ago and left the house in a very good condition. I am worried that any changes to the frontage will make it look worse.

Taking advantage of a demolished wall, I was able to see a side of the house and get a better idea of the scope of the work.

Posts

Some posts have appeared in the garden of Gordon House on the west side of Ham Common. Their purpose is not yet clear but anything that obstructs the view of one of the most significant buildings on the Common will be bad news.

Gordon House in its finished glory

It feels as though Gordon House has been worked on for ever and I have made a point of walking past it several times a week for all that time to check on the progress of the work and to record the significant developments. Now the work is finished and Gordon House is looking good.

It was looking particularly good this morning while the sun was still able to claw onto the front of the house. 

Gordon House gets it right

Last month I was critical of the new house sign at Gordon House and it looks like the new owner felt the same way and the new new sign looks much like the old one, and the house number has gone too.

I heartily approve. The beauty and formality of the sign are just right for the house.

New house signs at Gordon House

Soon after I posted pictures of two other house signs on Ham Common the new ones at Gordon House appeared and they are quite different from the old ones. The grey colour is much the same but the new font is a bit more delicate and fancy, and the new sign is positioned above the porch rather than on it.

It is a personal opinion but I do not think that they work. The signs look to me as though they belong to a small cottage rather than a grand house. I would have preferred a simpler and bolder font.

Gordon House revisited

There was no particular reason for me taking another picture of Gordon House, other than I thought that it was about time that I did so.

The house has not changed since I first photographed it but my cameras have (twice) and so has the on-line space available to store photos so the technical quality of the pictures has been getting better even if the artistic quality has not.

Gordon House

Gordon House is my favourite building on Ham Common because it is a a grand Georgian house that looks just like a grand Georgian house should look. It also has the advantage of facing directly towards Ham Pond. And the chimneys are cute too.

Spying on Gordon House

I am not that tall so all I could see of the side of Gordon House (on Ham Common) over the brick wall as I walked past was the tops of the two gate posts so I pointed my camera blindly over the wall and took this picture on speculation and was rewarded with this view showing more Georgian grandeur than I expected.

I like the way that the wide frontage of the house hides the depth behind and am amused that even those extra rooms are not enough so an extension has been added at the back.

Gordon House on Ham Common

Gordon House is typical of the Georgian houses that front onto Ham Common. It is nicely placed on the south-west side close to the pond and is strongly in contention for the claim to be the loveliest building on the Common.