3, Wells Road

This is a house dating to approximately 1830, with a 20th-century addition. The walls are rendered, with limestone dressings around the windows and entrances. The roof is an interlocking tile cross-gabled design with decorative, cusped bargeboards, and topped with ridge stacks. The house was constructed using a double-depth plan and is two stories tall, built in a picturesque Gothic Revival style.

The east-facing elevation, which looks onto the garden, features a two-story bay on the right-hand gable, with shallow window surrounds. A porch is situated in the re-entrant angle, and includes open elliptical arches, a crenellated parapet, and a 20th-century entrance door. Most windows on the east and south elevations are mullioned and have label moulds, while the window on the south return has a first-floor two-centred arched shape with Y-tracery, cusped heads, and plate-glass sashes. A single-storey, flat-roofed addition is present at the north east corner. The north elevation is plain, and the west return has mostly plate glass sash windows, with an entrance and a two-light mullioned window above—both with label moulds—in the right-hand gabled bay.

Inside, the house has been divided into two flats, but the original staircase remains in its original location, featuring turned newel posts and balusters on the upper landing. Window shutters are present in one of the main ground-floor rooms, along with architraves. No original fireplaces are present.

The house is situated in Totterdown, an area of rapid development from the mid-19th century. It stands as a detached villa in an elevated position, contrasting with the surrounding small terraces. While converted into flats, the exterior remains largely unaltered, with the exception of the addition to the garden elevation.

The building is designated at Grade II for its architecture, demonstrating an ambitious, well-designed villa of the 1830s, achieving a picturesque effect through its elevations, ornamentation, and massing. It also showcases good quality architectural handling and craftsmanship within the Gothic Revival style. Despite some interior losses, it retains original features like the staircase and window shutters. Finally, the house contributes to the urban texture of the area and has group value alongside a nearby listed finger post.