4, Third Avenue

This is a villa, built around 1880 and later converted into flats. The building was altered in the mid-20th century with changes to the attic space. It is constructed of yellow stock bricks, moulded bricks, and terracotta dressings, with a concrete tiled roof. The villa has a double-fronted design with a two-storey projection facing south. The structure is three stories high with a basement and attic, featuring a 2:1:4 bay arrangement. A full-height canted bay is located on the right, and a single-storey projection extends from the left. Most windows are sash windows without glazing bars, except in the attic where there are two gabled dormers with a decorative frieze below the cills. A more recent metal addition contains vertical glazing bars to the second-floor windows which rest on a decorative string. First-floor window openings have arched heads featuring a sunflower motif, supported by marble shafts with foliate capitals. Decorative panels form a string along the facade. A particularly ornate recessed porch has a pointed arch opening with decorative detailing to the soffit, foliate capitals, and a frieze of faded blue and white tiles depicting cherubs and foliage. Sgraffito panels on the reveal walls showcase figures in Aesthetic Movement costumes, including one panel inscribed “Come unto these yellow sands.” A 20th-century panelled door provides access, approached by a flight of steps resting on a flying arch over the basement area, with returned brick walls. On the south front return, a canted bay is topped by a six-bay open loggia with red terracotta columns and foliate capitals, some of which show signs of erosion. A crenellated parapet completes the loggia. The garden front features a single-storey wooden loggia, also approached by steps. The interior retains a varnished turned newel staircase, remnants of a tessellated pavement in the hall, and original doors with panelled reveals and quatrefoil decoration in the overdoor panels. A moulded compartment ceiling with a frieze of blue and white tiles is found in the former dining room. Original chimney pieces remain, notably in the former drawing room and main bedroom, with a built-in glass-fronted cupboard featuring circular pattern glazing bars in the drawing room. Plaster cornices display sinuous vegetation with flowers on the ground floor and rossettes on the first. It is believed that the house was possibly used as a summer residence by the Archbishop of York, though it was first documented in street directories in 1881 as Kingsworthy House, a school for ladies. The facade demonstrates the influence of the Aesthetic Movement, and many original features are still present.