225 AND 227, BRISTOL ROAD B5

Nos 225 and 227 on Bristol Road in Edgbaston are two separate villas that have been linked to form one property. No 225 is a symmetrical villa built around 1860, featuring ornate Italianate details. It has a stucco facade with a three-bay main block and one-bay wings that are set back. The first floor is accentuated by Ionic pilasters at the corners and flanking the central window. A deep entablature with a modillion cornice and a parapet largely conceals the low gable end slate roof. Two-storey canted bays flank the centre, likely added around 1880-90. The first floor features paired round-headed sash windows in architrave surrounds with cornice moulding above, with the central window topped by a scrolled pediment and a pediment-blocking course motif on the wings. The central entrance has coupled pilasters and a pediment that rises from the ground floor cornice of the flanking canted bays.

No 227 is a three-storey red brick villa built around 1840-50, with stucco dressings. The second floor was likely added in the mid-1850s. A deep stucco plinth supports the elevated ground floor, which is articulated by channelled, vermiculated stucco piers. The ground floor cornice and blocking course project boldly over these piers. A moulded string over the first-floor window heads serves as a bed mould for stepped brackets that support a prominent moulded cornice and blocking course. The second floor features a boxed eaves cornice, and the hipped slate roof has moulded cornice chimneys on either side. All windows are revealed glazing bar sashes. The entrance, which cuts through the plinth, rises directly to a reduced window in the right-hand bay, with a cornice on consoles and a blocking course above. It appears that the entrance has been reset from the side.