This fine red-brick house was built in the reign of Charles II for Bonham and Elizabeth Hayes, prosperous Kentish farmers. They produced corn, hops and cherries on the adjoining estate of 600 acres.
The two-storey house has a hipped roof with dormer windows peering over the parapet added in 1754. Tall chimneys, adorned with Bonham and Elizabeth's initials, rise from the steeply pitched roof.
The interior was completed in 1684 and the date is marked on the superb plaster ceiling over the staircase. This unexpectedly grand feature distinguishes Owletts from other houses of the period.
The opulent plasterwork was probably the work of Italian craftsmen. The formal design has wreaths with realistic, three-dimensional flowers and fruit surrounding the roundels carrying the date and the initials of Bonham and Elizabeth Hayes.
When Owletts passed to the Baker family in 1794 the casements had already been replaced by sash windows. Luckily much of the wide timber flooring survived.
Thomas Henry Baker had a family of ten children and so added the north wing. He also transformed the farmyard into a garden and built the new stables.
The architect Sir Herbert Baker was born at Owletts in 1862.
Sir Herbert had a successful early career in South Africa but is best remembered for his imperial London buildings including South Africa House, India House and the Bank of England. He was also partner of the architect Sir Edwin Lutyens in the building of New Delhi.
Sir Herbert was largely responsible for the historic atmosphere of the present interiors at Owletts. He collected or commissioned much of the furniture and the house is full of reminders of his travels and talents.
Sir Herbert's delightful carved dining-room chairs are decorated with creatures representing the family and the house. His strip cartoon of the journey from Dehli to Owletts includes an early frame showing Sir Herbert and Lutyens together on an elephant. A Dutch grandfather clock and chest were brought back from South Africa.
In a sunny room overlooking the garden is a blue and gold wall-clock that ingeniously tells the time simultaneously in all the countries of the British Empire.
Sir Herbert stayed at the house until his death in 1946. He left Owletts to National Trust.
Sir Herbert invoked the help of Gertrude Jekyll in laying out the garden.
The bird bath was formed from the Corinthian capitals from the old Bank of England.
The broad lawns and tennis courts reflect that this is a family house.
2009: 26Mar-24Oct 14:00-17:30 Thur & Sat. Last entry 30min before close.
Tel: 01372 453401 Owletts Website
