Ashbourne House

Ashbourne House is a pair of houses, one of which is now a nursing home, dating from 1904. They were likely designed by Rodway and Dening. The houses are built of pennant rubble with stone dressings, a tile-hung attic, a brick exterior, and diagonally-set ridge stacks, all topped by a tiled cross-gabled roof. They are constructed in a Free Domestic Revival style, following a double-depth plan.

The exterior presents two storeys and an attic, with a 5-window front. The façades are near-symmetrical, with projecting outer gables that have tile-hung attics and are connected at ground floor. A central, full-height recessed entrance is framed by a shallow segmental arch, leading to a half-glazed door with margin lights. A pent roof is on the left, and a parapeted wall containing a three-light window is on the right. The right-hand gable features a canted ashlar oriel supported by a moulded bracket, while the left-hand gable has a large, ground-floor canted bay with a coped parapet raised in a segmental arch. Flat stone mullion-and-transom windows contain leaded metal casements, and the gables feature four-light timber mullion windows, with three two-light dormers positioned between. The rear elevation includes paired central gables with outer dormers, a full-width pent roof, and a large ground-floor round-arched window.

The right-hand return has a one-window gabled bay situated between large external stacks, the right-hand one set into a gable with a half-hipped roof. A central doorway is topped by a four-bracketed canopy supported by three enriched attached columns, with a right-hand oculus and a two-leaf door. To the left is a former doctor's speaking tube and bell pull.

The interior of the second house (No.3) features a lobby leading to a half-glazed door, a central lateral entrance stair hall with a sweeping stair flight and cantilevered landing, tall square newels, and plaster dentil cornices. The northeast ground-floor room includes a large fireplace with a Bristol Delft tiled surround.

These are substantial and varied houses, utilising the corner site effectively, with well-considered details such as the recessed entrance and a thoughtful combination of materials. They represent one of the earliest houses in Downs Park, sharing a similar style with a notable group of Domestic Revival houses in Downleaze.