Bronte House Preparatory School

Bronte House Preparatory School is a house, built in 1872 and enlarged in 1899 for William Akroyd, Mayor of Bradford. It was later converted to a school in 1934 and has undergone alterations and additions in the 20th century. The building is constructed of ashlar with ashlar dressings, and has slate roofs with raised coped gables, kneelers, finials, and various chimney stacks. It features a chamfered plinth and bands, and is two storeys high with attics.

The house is in a Gothic Revival style. The front elevation, with four bays topped with gables, is characterised by an off-centre, single-storey projecting porch with decorated battlements. The porch has two moulded round arches; one with a three-light casement window, and one open, set within a segment-headed doorway with a panelled door and overlight. A lancet window is located to the left of the doorway. Above the porch are a pair of sashes with a pointed arched head containing a carved roundel inscribed "1872", and above that, a triple sash with a taller central light. To the right is a set-back single bay with a plain sash window, and above it another single sash with a pointed arched head, roundel, and gable. To the left are two projecting gabled bays containing a large three-light square bay window and a plain sash window. Above the bays are pairs of margin light sashes, and then two triple casements with a larger central light.

The garden front has three bays, with a central pair of plain sashes above which are a pair of smaller sashes, all topped with a gable. To the right is a shallow three-light square bay window, and above it a pair of plain sashes with a central column and pointed arched head with a carved roundel, also topped with a gable. To the left is a projecting single bay with a three-light canted bay window, and above it a pair of plain sashes with a central column and pointed arched head with a carved roundel, surmounted by a gable. Above in the gable is a triple sash with a larger central light. Beyond to the right is a single-storey former billiard room with three canted bay windows, each containing a three-light mullion and transom window topped with battlements.

Internally, rooms to the right of the entrance retain features from 1872, including deep plaster coving and fireplaces. The dining room, staircase, and the present common room retain features from 1899, including plaster ceilings, doors and doorcases. The dining room has three arches – a bay window arch, a buffer arch, and an inglenook arch, with a fine tiled fireplace, wooden surround, and overmantel. The staircase and entrance hall have a coved and glazed ceiling, a Jacobean style staircase, an arched screen, a good quality fireplace with glazed tiles, a wooden surround and overmantel. The former billiard room is notable for its ornate coved and decorated plaster ceiling with wooden coving, panelling, and a stone inglenook arch with a good quality fireplace, wooden surround, and overmantel. The building replaced an earlier house called 'Underwood House', on the same site, where Charlotte Bronte was employed as a governess from March to December 1841.