12 West Street ~ Chesil House

(Unlisted)

The author of the Appreciation clearly didn't like this house, including it among "things which mar the scene" - "its blue painted windows and hipped roof ... jars". At the time it was built, though, it must have been considered (at least by the man who commissioned it and the architect who designed it) the height of fashion, and conservation was not as highly rated as it is today. It stands on the site of a terrace of small thatched cottages that all perished in the famous Abbotsbury blaze of 1704.

According to the present occupants, it was built in 1925 as a house for the Estate Manager (see also 15 Rodden Row) at the same time as Linton Cottage was built as a police house. It was later home to one of the family from New Barn Farm who moved into the village, here and at 13 Rodden Row. In the 1939 directory, George White, motor car proprietor, appears at this address, named then as "Homeleigh". It is now called "Chesil House" after a spell as "Chesil Cottage", an inappropriate name for such a substantial house.

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