Riftswood

Riftswood is a villa, later used as a Youth Hostel and now a house, built in 1902 for Mr Walker. It was subsequently altered in the late 20th century by R Lofthouse & Sons, Middlesbrough. The property is constructed of brick with bright red terracotta dressings, featuring a roof of plain tiles and brick chimneys. It is designed in a Domestic Revival style, with an irregular H-plan and extensions.

The villa is two storeys and attics, with a six-window front arranged in a 2:2:2 pattern, complemented by a two-window wing set back to the left and a single-story wing set further back to the right. The recessed centre has a partly glazed front door topped with a four-pane overlight, set within a keyed brick surround with an elliptical head. Ground-floor windows are similarly surrounded and have four-over-six pane sashes; those to the right project slightly. First-floor windows are also sash windows with eight panes, flanking a terracotta cartouche with deeply moulded scrolls. Sill strings, a ground-floor cornice resting on window keystones, and an eaves band on first-floor keystones run around slight projections of the outer bays, with shaped gables topped with moulded coping over the three bays to the left and two widely-spaced ground-floor windows to the right. A renewed three-light window sits in the left gable peak, while a two-light casement with glazing bars and a keyed brick surround is found in the right gable. The left wing has a blind ground floor on the left and an inserted door with a small window above, along with a ten-pane window to the right and four high-set eight-pane sashes. A stair window is located in the three-storey right bay. The return of the centre block features a shallow, full-height apsed projecting bay with continuous strings and cornices. The roof includes tall chimney stacks set transversely along the ridge and on the rear eaves and one-story wing, with plinths and cornices, but no chimney pots. The front entrance to the drive has a wide step leading to a renewed door on the left of the main block, under a shaped gable. The fenestration is irregular, with small panes in a late 17th century style to three first-floor windows to the left of the door.

The interior was not inspected at the time of listing.