Belle Vue House

Belle Vue House is a large house, now converted into flats, built in 1793 and altered around 1974. It was originally commissioned for Michael Wainhouse. The house is constructed of red brick with an ashlar plinth and has a slate hipped roof with end stacks. It includes a rebuilt modillion cornice and a band at first-floor level, along with a parapet. The building has two storeys and a cellar. It features a 1:3:1 window arrangement, with a central three-window projection capped by a pediment containing an elliptical window in the tympanum, which is now blocked. The windows are 4-pane sashes with flat brick arches and sills; there are continuous sill bands to the first floor centre and the ground floor. The central doorway has a moulded architrave, a fluted frieze, and a pediment supported on console brackets. A Palladian stair window is located at the rear. The interior has not been inspected. Belle Vue was built on 3 1/2 acres of land purchased by Michael Wainhouse in February 1792. It is one of a group of plain brick villas constructed in the late 18th century by cloth merchants seeking to escape the polluted air of central Leeds. Wainhouse's workshops and warehouse were situated at the Park Lane entrance to the long, curving drive leading up to the house.