The following text is from the original listed building designation:
TQ 55 SE PLAXTOL TONBRIDGE ROAD 3/14 (east side)
1.8.52 Fairlawne
I
Country house. Earlier building rebuilt for Sir Henry Vane 1630-55, additions by Lord Barnard 1680, completed for Lord Vane 1723, in part by James Gibbs. Victorian additions and interior decoration by William Burn before 1840 and J MacVicar Anderson 1872. Most Victorian additions removed 1954. West front. 1680. Dressed and coursed Kentish ragstone on ragstone plinth with painted stone pilaster-strip quoins, plat-band at architrave window surrounds. Modillion cornice and parapet hiding slate roofs. Two-stage cupola off-centre to left, square, with canted corner pilasters and entablature on lower stage and lead cupola, 3 brick stacks, 2 either side of centre, one at left-hand end. Two-storeys; 9 bays, the central 4 spaced slightly further apart, glazing bar sashes. Three-bay Roman Doric 'porte cochere' with paired columns, added in 1872 by J MacVicar Anderson. Slightly recessed northern extension, possibly hiding part of the earlier house with facade probably by Gibbs in 1723. Dressed and coursed rubble with painted stone pilaster-strip quoin and keystones to windows. Cornice, parapet and left and stack. Three storeys; 4 bays, glazing bar sashes. South front quoins and dressings. Plat-band, modillion cornice and parapet hiding slate roofs. Central 2 bays project slightly with pediment in parapet area. Two storeys; 6 bays, glazing bar plinth with stone pilaster-strip quoins and dressing. Plat band, modillion cornice and parapet hiding slate roof. Two storeys, 5 bays, glazing bar sashes. Central glazed door with rectangular over-light and segment pediment hood. Taller 2-storey block to north-east with attic pediments facing south and east. Two bays to south, with glazing bar sashes; 3 bays to east, sashes without glazing bar sashes. Seven-bay conservatory of 1872 to east, with Roman Doric colonnaded loggia and glazed internal barrel-vault. Interior. Entrance hall. Panelled with 1872 plaster ceiling and single C18 black marble fireplace. Study. Two-storey fireplace, topped by broken swan-neck pediment and door surround with carved and pierced frieze. Great Room. Wood panelled with carved ornament. Door surround with fluted Ionic half-columns and triangular pediment. Marble fireplace with half-columned and pedimented sedicular overmantel. Drawings for this room survive in the Gibbs Collection at the Bodleian Library in Oxford. See Country Life, 30 October and 6 November 1958. Also 27 November 1958 for correspondence on the attribution to Gibbs of the Great Room. Listing NGR: TQ5933754660 (1)

Description from record TQ 55 SE 27 :
(TQ 59425342) Fairlawne (NAT) (1)

1 Fairlawne This is an expansive red brick building, chiefly of early 18th century date. The estate formerly belonged to the Vanes, who owned lands in Shipbourne, and it was Sir Christoper Vane, in 1699 created Lord Barnard, who largely rebuilt an earlier house. Two fires in 1739 and 1742 involved much redecoration of the interior, which was carried out from designs by James Gibbs, who had previously been commissioned to rebuild Shipbourne church. There are many fine rooms treated in a Palladian manner with architectural doorcases, enriched panelling and carved chimneypieces. The best of them is the great dining-room, solidly panelled in oak and enriched with fine carvings of the Grinling Gibbons variety, which must have escaped the fire and have been incorporated in the new decorated scheme for the room. The entrance front to west has been refaced with coursed stone blocks. 2 storeys. Modillioned cornice and parapet. 9 sash window facade with centre projecting columned porch. There are large 19th century additions at the side and Edwardian stable buildings to the rear. One building called Pigeon Cottage, probably dates back to the original Jacobian house. The gardens and park of Fairlawne are exceptional and there is a grove of great yews planted by Sir Christopher Vane in 1684. References. Country Life. XLIV. pp. 50.72 Country houses of Kent by Arthur Oswald. pp. 59.

TQ 55 SE 27 3/14 PLAXTOL TONBRIDGE ROAD (east side) 1.8.52 Fairlawne Country house. Earlier building rebuilt for Sir Henry Vane 1630-55, additions by Lord Barnard 1680, completed for Lord Vane 1723, in part by James Gibbs. Victorian additions and interior decoration by William Burn before 1840 and J MacVicar Anderson 1872. Most Victorian additions removed 1954. West front. 1680. Dressed and coursed Kentish ragstone on ragstone slinth with painted stone pilater-strip quoins, plat-band at architrave window surrounds. Modillion cornce and parapet hiding slate roofs. Two-stage cupola off-centre to left, square, with canted corner pilasters and entablature on lower stage and lead cupola, 3 brick stacks, 2 either side of centre, one at left-hand end. Two-storeys; 9 bays, the central 4 spaced further apart, glazing bar sashes. Three-bay Roman Doric 'porte cochere' with paired columns, added in 1872 by J MacVicar Anderson. Slightly recessed northern extension, possibly hiding part of the earlier house with facade probably by Gibbs in 1723. Dressed and coursed rubble with painted stone pilaster-strip quoins and keystones to windows. Cornice, parapet and left and stack. Three storeys; 4 bays, glazing bar sashes. South front quoins and dressings. Plat-band, modillion cornice and parapet hiding plate roofs. Central 2 bays project slightly with pediment in parapet area. Two storeys; 6 bay, glazing bar plinth with stone pilaster-strip quoins and dressing. Plat band, modillion cornice and parapet hiding slate roof. Two storeys, 5 bays, glazing bar sashes. Central glazed door with rectangular over-light and segment pediment hood. Taller 2-storey block to north-east with attic pediments facing south and east. Two bays to south, with glazing bar sashes; 3 bays to east, sashes without glazing bar sashes. Seven-bay conservatory of 1872 to east, with Roman Doric colonnaded loggia and glazed internal barrel-vault. Interior. Entrance hall. Panelled with 1872 plaster ceiling and single C18 black marble fireplace. Study. Two-storey fireplace, topped by broken swan-neck pediment and door surround with carved and pierced frieze. Great Room. Wood panelled with carved ornament. Door surround with fluted Ionic half-columns and triangular pediment. Marble fireplace with half-columned and pedimented sedicular overmantel. Drawings for this room survive in the Gibbs Collection at the Bodleian Library in Oxford. See Country Life, 30 October and 6 November 1958. Also 27 November 1958 for correspondence on the attribution to Gibbs of the Great Room. [2]

[3].

Fairlawne. A plain and rather puzzling house. From the road the main block of ragstone, two-storeyed, nine windows wide, with windows in thick white surrounds and porte-cochere of pairs of Tuscan colums, looks like work of the 1840s rather than anything else. But the three storeyed extension on the left is clearly 18th century, and so is the big off-centre belfry and cupola. Furthermore, the main front is obviously the same as Kip engraved in 1919, with a new stone cornice. The cornice carries on round the south and east fronts, which are both of brick. The south front has a centre pediment resting on the cornice. (4)

Historical description and photographs, but not consulted. (5)

<1> English Heritage, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest (Map). SKE16160.

<2> O S 6" 1969 (OS Card Reference). SKE47763.

<3> DOE (HHR) Malling RD May 1950 72-3 (OS Card Reference). SKE40605.

<4> DOE (HHR) Tonbridge & Malling Dist May 1984 56 (OS Card Reference). SKE40650.

<5> Bldgs of Eng W Kent & the Weald 1980 281-2 (J Newman) (OS Card Reference). SKE37865.

<6> Country Life 44 50-6 & 72-7 (OS Card Reference). SKE39431.