Red Hill

Red Hill is a house, built between 1900 and 1901 in Headingley, Leeds, designed by Francis Bedford and Sidney Kitson for Edward Audus Hirst. It is now divided into flats. The ground floor is constructed of gritstone with a snecked finish, while the upper floor is tile-hung with a jettied cross-wing and timber framing, featuring brick chimneys and a steeply-pitched tile roof. The house is an example of the Vernacular Revival style.

The property is two storeys with an attic, and has three bays. A central timber porch sits under a deep jetty, ornamented with carved spandrels bearing the initials ‘EAH’ and ‘EMN’. The windows are mullioned, with 3 and 5 lights. The first-floor windows are all gabled; a 6-light oriel window is present in the timber-framed left bay, alongside 4-light casements in the central and right bays, all with leaded panes. Deep eaves extend over the building, and a tall brick stack is positioned forward of the ridge between bays 2 and 3, with another at the left gable.

The interior of the front principal rooms retains original details and craftsmanship. These include an entrance hall with a half-glazed door and a screen to the former stair hall, featuring leaded lights. A fireplace within the hall has a wooden surround framing three beaten copper panels decorated with Art Nouveau bosses and scrolls, as well as a deep frieze of Tudor roses and leaves. The front left room contains an inglenook-style fireplace set within a panelled recess, with a Classical surround, flanking fire windows with leaded lights, benches, and a moulded architrave. The ceiling features friezes of oak leaves, naturalistic flowers and foliage. The front right room displays fine inlaid panelling, a decorative fire surround, fitted cupboards with leaded glass fronts, and Art Nouveau copper light switch and service bell plaques. The staircase was removed when the house was converted into flats.

Contemporary accounts recognized the house as a positive influence on domestic architecture, and the architects were noted in a leading architectural publication of the time.