Arncliffe

Arncliffe is a house, dating to 1893, designed by Francis Bedford for James Bedford. Constructed in local hard red brick with dressed stone details and a sandstone slab roof, it was originally intended as a villa, but is now divided into flats. The house is two storeys with attics and cellars, featuring four bays, with the entrance and fourth bays projecting. A canted front creates a distinctive ‘butterfly’ plan, complemented by a rear, single-storey, L-shaped service wing extending over a basement. The architectural style blends Jacobean and local 17th-century vernacular influences.

A slightly recessed ribbed board entrance door, featuring original studs, hinges, and latch, is accessed by three steps and is sheltered by a segmental arch bearing the incised inscription ‘18 B 93’. The windows are predominantly wooden-framed, with mullion and transom designs; some ground-floor windows have plate glass, while the first-floor window on the left retains leaded lights. Moulded brick detailing is located at the ground-floor sill and lintel, as well as the eaves level. The left and entrance/right bays incorporate brick parapets, stone strapwork panels, and ball finials above the entrance bay. Original square-section drain pipes bear the date ‘1893’. Other external features include stone gable copings, kneelers, and ball finials, alongside tall moulded brick stacks on the right and rear left. The rear elevation has a central entrance, a basement entrance to the right, a stair window above the left side, a canted window to the right of centre, and two dormer windows; the left-hand frame has been altered. The left return boasts paired cross windows on the ground floor, an elaborate four-light stone oriel with a strapwork balustrade above, and a two-light window in the gable. The right return features a five-light bay window on the right, with some rebuilding following the demolition of a former greenhouse.

The interior retains much of its original detailing, despite the conversion into flats, including an entrance hall with panelling and light fittings, top-glazed double doors leading to a stair hall (with rebuilt stairs), a Tudor fireplace, and a plaster frieze depicting roses. A dining room on the ground floor left side showcases panelling, a wooden fire surround with attached columns, an encased beamed ceiling, and two large panelled doors with 17th-century-style iron fittings. A butler's pantry is located at the rear of the dining room, featuring a corniced ceiling and original cupboards. The rear kitchen has stone surrounds to the cooking range recesses and original timber partitions. A front room on the right side contains hidden lighting within the architraves to the door and above the fireplace. Upper floors were not inspected during the survey.

Arncliffe represents a complete survival of a middle-class Leeds villa built in the 1890s, displaying high-quality construction and design. It is an early work by the significant Leeds architectural partnership of Francis Bedford, built for his family; James Bedford, a manufacturing chemist with premises on Kirkstall Road, formerly resided at No.7A Woodhouse Cliff. The dining room’s decoration is believed to be inspired by the Plantin house in Antwerp.