Downswood

Downswood is a detached house dating from 1887-8, likely designed by Samuel Hill Holme. Constructed of Ruabon red brick with stone and terracotta detailing, it is built in a Vernacular Revival style. The main façade is two storeys and four bays. It features a projecting porch with a six-panel oak door, displaying the inscribed motto "Fine que cui vide: in Domine confido: 1887:1888" on a stone lower storey. There are brick mullioned and stone transomed leaded windows with ogee-arched heads, including a canted half-bay window and a four-light window recessed to the left of the doorway. A carved stone frieze sits above the entrance, and decorative brick panels are positioned between the lower and upper storeys, topped by a terracotta string course. Other detailing includes a row of small brick-mullioned leaded lights, terracotta panels with putti, brick pilasters supporting stone heraldic beasts, a crenellated parapet, gable cartouches, finials, and a timber-framed dormer over the landing. Shaped brick chimneys are also present. The west garden front features a seven-sided bay window with stained glass above a stone transom, an oak-framed tiled-roofed verandah, and a gableted window. The service wing and rear of the property share a similar style, though with simpler detailing. A shaped chimney projecting from the front room of the right side is a notable feature.

Inside, the hall and stair-hall, separated by a screen of three round arches, have an oak dado and an ornate fireplace with an overmantel. The right-front room features an oak dado, a tiled fireplace in an ornate surround, a panelled bay window alcove, a plaster frieze decorated with foliage and cupids, and a foliar patterned plaster ceiling. The open-well staircase has newels, barley-sugar-on-vase balusters, and heavy moulded rails. The landing includes a dado rail and a screen of two basket arches supported by fluted square classical posts. A rear right room showcases a substantial sandstone fireplace with carved birds, a boarded dado, and three arch-braced trusses. Other interior details include butted mouldings on door stiles and rails, a simple rear stair, and evidence of traditional construction techniques. Downswood exemplifies a later 19th-century opulent suburban residence. The property was vacant at the time of inspection in June 1991.