Garvin House

Garvin House is a house dating from around 1700, with an early 19th-century addition to the north and some 19th-century changes to its windows. It is constructed of brown brick with red brick dressings, and the rear is cement rendered. The house has a hipped slate roof and stands three storeys tall with five windows. The windows are double-hung sashes set in architraves with flat arches. The second-floor windows are 12-pane sashes with wide glazing bars, while the first and second floors feature taller, narrower windows with eight large panes. There is a dentilled eaves cornice and brick bands between the floors. The entrance has a wooden door surround with Roman Doric pilasters and an entablature that includes guttae and triglyphs, leading to an eight fielded panel door. A blue plaque commemorates Vincent Van Gogh, who lived here in 1876. The rear elevation is similar but includes a central doorcase with a tall rectangular fanlight and a four-panelled door. The early 19th-century addition to the north is two storeys high, featuring a 12-pane sash window and a cambered-headed doorcase.

Inside, the original part of the house has a fine early 18th-century well staircase with two turned and one twisted baluster on each tread, scrolled tread ends, column newel posts, and dado panels. The ground floor includes a south rear room with a moulded cornice, 18th-century panelling, and a mid-19th-century marble fireplace, while the north rear room has a similar cornice and panelling, along with a moulded dado rail, shutters, and window seats. The first floor features a panelled lobby at the top of the main staircase and a rear through room that spans the full width of the house, complete with moulded cornice, full-height panelling, and 19th-century fireplaces with firegrates. The second-floor rear room has 19th-century plank panelling, and there are 18th-century two and six-panelled doors.

Historically, Vincent Van Gogh taught at a preparatory school here in 1876 and is believed to have lodged in a small bedroom on the second floor.