Belmont House

Belmont House is a large, detached Italianate villa dating to around 1840. It is constructed of limestone ashlar with a slate roof. The building is two storeys high, with a third storey set below a south-facing terrace. The road front is set back slightly from the boundary wall and features a single sash window at first floor level. The west-facing entrance front has twelve-pane sashes flanking a full-height square porch. A blind opening is positioned on the right side of the first floor, with a small paired light situated immediately to the left of the porch. A ground floor sash to the left has a cornice supported by brackets, while the sash to the right is incorporated into a flat-roofed extension with two- and one-light casements in moulded architraves. The porch features a twelve-pane over-arched doorway with a pair of glazed doors and overlight; the return sides have blind openings at each level, arched at the lower level. The east front has one blind light and two twelve-pane sashes, resting on brackets. The garden front displays three twelve-pane sashes above four-pane windows flanking a pair of glazed doors with a three-pane transom light, accompanied by a broad glazed verandah canopy supported by three wide arches on slender cast iron supports. A terrace extends across the full width of the house, featuring a fine balustrade with tall oval openings and sitting atop a triple arcade, flanked by blind arches and rectangular piers with impost bands. Arched windows are located behind the basement walls. There are two stacks at each end and deep, bracketed eaves. The interior remains uninspected. Belmont House is the most impressive of a group of four villas, designed to take advantage of the sloping site and providing extensive views to the south, and reflecting the transition from Late Georgian to early Victorian Italianate villa design.