Number 24 And The Argyle (Number 25)

Number 24 and The Argyle (Number 25) is a pair of semi-detached villas or boarding houses, now serving as a house and residential home for the elderly. They were built in the mid-19th century, possibly designed by Sir Joseph Paxton for the Duke of Devonshire. The buildings are constructed from coursed millstone grit rubble with ashlar dressings and feature a Welsh slate roof with three stone stacks.

The exterior is three storeys high and double-fronted, with a total of six windows. It has projecting boxed eaves supported by shaped modillion brackets. The six-window arrangement includes three-light windows with chamfered stone mullions on the second floor, while the ground floor consists of six bays. The entrances are located in the second and fifth bays, featuring part-glazed doors with similar side panels and shallow arched overlights, all within a moulded surround that has a prominent shaped keystone. Above the doors are 2/2 plain sash windows.

Flanking the main entrances are two-storey canted bays that are hipped at the top. These bays have moulding, panelled aprons between the floors, and shallow arched heads to the lights. All windows, except for the side lights, are 2/2 sashes, with the second floor featuring a single 2/2 sash and tripartite sashes. There are sill bands on the first and second floors and a lintel band at the ground level. The building also has a similar two-window return.

The Broad Walk, where these villas are located, consists of a series of Victorian villas and a walk overlooking the Pavilion Gardens, which was originally laid out by Paxton around 1850. Most of the surrounding houses were built by speculative developers, with some believed to be designed in detail by Paxton's pupil Edward Milner from 1871 and constructed by Saunders & Woolcott of London for the 7th Duke.