The original listing for this house was 18th July 1963. In 1965 it was known as Nirvana, as was No 56 Thame Road. It was last updated 14th May 1986 as ‘Western House, formerly Nirvana’.
Since then, it has been also known as The Old Hall House but is currently named Western House again.
Western House, dendro-dated to 1574/5 is a substantial timber framed building with a history spanning from the late 16th to early 17th centuries. It features a pebble dashed and rendered timber frame on a brick plinth, a plain-tile roof, and a three-unit plan with extensions. The house has two stories plus attics and notable architectural details like projecting gabled outer bays, casement windows, and a massive early 17th-century chimney.
The distinctive chimneys are a feature of the property with a massive early 17th century stack, with many shafts rising from the left gable wall and partly contained within an extension that is now 56 Thame Road. Inside there are two Tudor-arched stone fireplaces.
A 16th century oak solid-tread stair leads to attics. Oak roof structure with butt and clasped purlins and evidence of herringbone brick infill to the right gable.
Some 20th century additions have been made to the property.
Memories of Western House (extracted from Rodney Attwood’s memories of Warborough)
I lived in Western House, Warborough between 1950 and 1955.
Western House is opposite the Bullock’s bakery and was at that time alongside old Mr Bullocks house opposite the Cricketers Arms (There has been a couple of houses built since then in what was Mr Bullocks front garden) When we moved into Western House it had no bathroom or inside toilet and no water into the house. My father put a tank in the roof and installed a pump under the stairs to pump water from the well in the garden of the half of Western House then occupied by Theodosia (Dosie) King, an eternally cheerful tenant.
My mother dug the huge pit in the back garden for the septic tank my father installed and an upstairs room was converted into a bathroom and toilet.
During the extensive renovations to the house done by our family a large open fireplace was discovered in one of the downstairs rooms. Since the house dated from the late 17th Century this fireplace became the subject of great family hilarity when a visiting vicar announce that it was definitely of Saxon Origin!
The house is built very close to the road alignment which makes the front garden very small but just big enough for a large pear tree which reached up to the top story. My brother, David and I managed to sneak back into the house undetected by climbing the tree and breaking in though a bedroom window. Very daring and romantic.
The garage protruded right up to the road side and spoilt the look of the house so my father dug out the land behind the garage, jacked up the structure which he then let down onto the roof of our car (a 1930 Austin 12) and drove the car forward to a new alignment back from the road for the garage.
In August 1955 my parents sold Western House and I sold my Hercules bicycle and we went down to Tilbury and boarded the SS Himalaya and emigrated to Australia, leaving behind Warborough and England for ever.
Originally seen on www.francisfrith.com but confirmed by Rodney that we can publish.
At the time of the 1939 register and subsequently the 1940 Belcher books it would appear that three separate families were living there.
Walter Bond and his family lived at Western House for a number of years. The name Bond has a long association to the village. Walter was born in the village in 1860, following in his father’s footsteps he was a gardener and worked for Rev A H Caldicott at The Vicarage. He served as a Parish Councillor for several years and during that time held the position of Chairman. During the war he was a member of the Home Guard. He died at Western House in 1946
Compiled by Lynda Raynor
June 2025