Garrow Hill

House, now students' residence. Built circa 1835, with alterations and extensions from the late 19th century and further alterations in the 20th century.

The house is constructed of yellow-grey brick in Flemish bond on a stone plinth, with white brick extensions. The rear elevation is orange-brown brick in English garden-wall bond. An ashlar porch projects from the centre. Guttering is partly timber on paired modillions and partly cast-iron. The slate roof features a central lantern with hipped roof and timber bargeboarded gables. A timber verandah with cast-iron latticed panels and glazed pent roof runs across part of the building.

The front elevation presents a 2-storey, 5-bay facade with 2 bays projecting in the centre and to the left. To the right is a 2-storey 3-bay wing with a 1-bay extension. A Tuscan porch with entablature projects at the centre, with glazed and panelled double doors beneath a keyed flat arch. Above this sits a projecting 3-light square bay window.

To the left of the porch, the ground floor has 3 tall narrow windows. The first floor here has one standard sash window, and at the left end is an inserted window with flat arch on the ground floor and a shortened blind 12-pane sash on the first floor. All have stone sills and are 1-pane sashes except the first floor end left window. To the right of the porch, the ground floor windows are 20th-century 3-light casements, while the first floor has 1-pane pivoting windows. The wing retains 12-pane sashes with stone sills and flat brick arches on the ground floor. One similar survives on the first floor, with two altered to canted oriels with 1-pane sashes. The right end extension has a 20th-century 2-light window.

The rear elevation presents a 2-storey, 5-bay facade with 2 centre bays projecting beneath a half-hipped roof and a 2-storey service wing at the left end. The ground floor of the main house is fronted by a full-width verandah. Beneath this, openings have been altered to French doors flanked by windows. On the first floor, except for an unequal 9-pane sash at the left end, windows are 20th-century casements and top-hung lights. The eaves project boldly on massive paired brackets.

On the left return, a narrow centre bay is flanked by gabled bays with bargeboards on oversized brackets. The left gabled bay is pedimented with an eaves cornice on the same brackets. The left bay has a square bay window on the ground floor, while the right bay is a full-height canted bay window. Both have French doors flanked by windows. Except for a 20th-century 3-light casement window in the centre of the first floor, all windows here are 1-pane sashes.

The interior retains significant features. The entrance hall contains 3 reeded doorcases with corniced overdoors of diamond latticed panels flanking a raised central bobbin-like motif. The staircase to the first floor features a balustrade of twisted balusters alternating with arabesque panels, and a light serpentine handrail wreathed at the foot around a turned twisted wooden newel on a shaped curtail step. The stairs are panelled underneath and have diamond latticed treadends.

The large ground-floor reception room with canted bay window contains doorcases with flutes and paterae with lion masks in frieze blocks. The corniced overdoors incorporate panels of plaster-moulded classical figures, and the inner faces of the doors are of 6 bordered panels. The dado rail features flutes and paterae with an enriched acanthus cornice. A 2-storey inner hall is top lit by a rectangular lantern, with fluted doorcases with attached paterae and doors of 6 beaded panels. A moulded round arch leads to the passage.

On the first floor, the landing has a reeded round arch with attached paterae to the inner hall gallery. The doorcase to the first floor reception room is similar to those in the entrance hall. The doorcase to the room over the porch is reeded with a corniced overdoor of diamond lattice centre panel flanked by elongated volutes. The ceiling has a plaster leaf cornice. The upper level of the inner hall is enclosed by a cantilevered gallery with a balustrade of square section railings with Greek key terminals. Three openings are fluted round arches with attached floral paterae on angle blocks, while other doorways are corniced. The coved ceiling is coffered with bands of rosettes in foliage springing from paired console brackets. The lantern is articulated by squat pilasters, at the feet of which are palmette antefixae.

The first floor reception room has door and window cases moulded as bound fasces with laurel garlands in the frieze centre panel and end blocks. The door is of 6 panels bordered in bead mouldings.