Bassett House And Retaining Walls To Terrace On East Side

Bassett House, originally built as the Aqueduct Hotel in 1836 for George Vivian of Claverton Manor, is a detached Italianate villa. Constructed of ashlar, it features a hipped slate roof with overhanging bracketed eaves and panelled ashlar stacks on the sides. The building has two storeys and a basement on the garden (east) elevation, where the basement slightly projects with rustication. It includes glazing bar sash windows in the outer bays and a central Diocletian window.

The main part of the house is three bays wide, with the outer bays set back behind four-bay arcaded loggias. The central bay has a hipped roof, and flights of steps lead down on each side, complemented by pierced parapets. The house features square-headed windows on the ground floor and square-headed windows under arched radiating fanlights, with the central windows being triple and having small balconies. There are architraves around the arches, a first-floor cill band, and a moulded cornice over the ground floor.

The ashlar retaining wall to the terrace has a pierced parapet. The drive front consists of four bays with large pane sash windows in plain architraves on the ground floor, topped by a moulded string course. The first floor has three square-headed windows under arched fanlights, with the outer ones being triple and a cill band. A small central attic window is surmounted by a gable that breaks the eaves line. The central gabled porch projects and features a semi-circular headed doorway with the Vivian arms above.