43 St Bernards Road

A house of 1897, designed by the Birmingham architectural firm Gateley and Parsons.

The building is constructed principally of brick with carved stone dressings and areas of hung tiles, beneath a hipped plain tile roof. Windows to the front and side elevations feature stone or timber mullions and transoms with leaded and stained glass, while the rear windows are timber sashes.

The plan is roughly square with a range extending to the west and an attached garage.

The double-fronted east elevation is of three bays set largely over two storeys, with the southern bay rising to three storeys. The outer bays break slightly forward of the central entrance and feature projecting bays to the ground floor with five-light windows in stone surrounds, capped with pediments featuring carved stone relief plaques and ball finials. The half-glazed front door has leaded and stained-glass top and side lights, set within a central open porch with two semi-circular headed openings divided by dwarf columns. The porch is capped with a stone balustrade which forms a balcony to a half-glazed door above. The first floor features stone banding to the brickwork and four-light casement windows in stone surrounds. The second-floor gable has hanging tiles and a four-light casement window.

The south elevation has half bay windows on either side of a chimney breast, with windows to each floor of the stairwell to the west. A two-storey range breaks slightly forward of this elevation.

The north side of the west elevation features a ground-floor bay window beneath a porch with dentil eaves and a small open veranda with spandrels and dwarf balustrades. The back door and top lights have leaded and stained glass. First-floor windows are sashes with nine-paned top lights, all with gaged brick heads. The roof features a flat-roofed attic dormer clad in hanging tiles with dentil eaves. The three-storey southern bays break slightly forward with an asymmetrical roof descending to two storeys to the southernmost side. This gable features hanging tiles above a moulded string course. Projecting west from the southernmost bay is a single-storey range beneath a hipped roof with brick dentil eaves, featuring modern rooflights and 15-light timber windows and doors to each bay. The former motor house is attached to the south side of this range. Its east elevation has a pair of planked doors with strap hinges below a planked loft door with small eight-paned side lights, with hung tiles to the gable apex below moulded projecting eaves. The west elevation has a hipped roof surmounted by a louvred cowl and exposed rafter feet to the eaves.

Internally, the main entrance leads into a hallway opening to a central stair lobby, which features a decorative fireplace, deeply moulded cornicing, a modern tiled floor and embossed wallpaper to dado height. The staircase features ornate newel posts, balustrades and stair stringer. The space beneath the stairs is panelled and contains a door to the cellar with an original safety gate. Rooms off the lobby have moulded doorcases crowned with panelled heads with deep cornices; the principal rooms also have broken pediments with small urns. Doors feature ornate brass finger plates.

The principal living and dining rooms both feature elaborate ceilings with egg and dart moulding and decorative geometric plasterwork. The bay windows and decorative timber chimneypieces in both rooms are set within moulded arched recesses, with fireplaces flanked by leaded and stained-glass windows. The living room also features low-level panelling. A further living room contains an ornate timber chimneypiece. A store room retains some original geometric floor tiling. The kitchen and rear extension feature modern fixtures and fittings. The large window to the stair is of leaded and stained glass.

First-floor rooms feature moulded cornices and dado rails. Most bedrooms retain cast-iron chimneypieces; those to the principal bedrooms have panelled surrounds featuring built-in cupboards with deeply moulded cornices.