Historic house experts argue against Brock Road listing
JOHN McCORMACK, the man who wrote the definitive book on the island's old houses, has appeared at an appeal hearing to support a couple who are arguing that their property should not be added to the protected building register.
Another local expert on historical houses, architect Andrew Dyke, has also backed the appeal, the first against a listing, by Katherine and Stephen Paine.
The Environment Department is steadily reviewing its protected building register.
Earlier this year it decided La Maison de Haut, in Brock Road, St Sampson's, should go on the list, because of its varied background and long history.
But Mr and Mrs Paine have appealed against the decision and a hearing has taken place at Les Cotils.
The property was once a farmhouse. The heart of the building is a 14th century structure, and there was an extension built in 1906.
Outside is also a 19th century barn and a largely 19th century granite wall, which runs around the property. These would all be listed under Environment's plans.
Conservation officer Claire Vint said it was not just the individual parts of the building that were important, but how they interacted and showed change over time.
But Mr Dyke disagreed and said work in 1906 had stripped out a lot of historic detail.
'We haven't really got layers of history here,' he said.
'We've got an old core and then a lot of things going on very recently. It is not something which is showing an interesting sequence of historic change over centuries.'
Mr McCormack, the author of The Guernsey House, said that while there were some interesting features, including a very rare 14th century upstairs fireplace, the house was largely unremarkable, many of the historic aspects having already been lost.
