Penhellis

Penhellis is a suburban villa dating from the 1840s, designed by George Wightwick for Frederick Hill. It is constructed of incised stucco, with hoods on pilasters featuring consoles and sill brackets to the first floor, and moulded eared architraves to the ground floor. The roof is dry Delabole slate, with wide eaves supported by brackets, and stepped axial stacks with moulded cornices. The building has a double-depth, L-shaped plan with an attached coach house and stables running parallel to the rear at right angles.

The villa is two storeys, presenting a symmetrical three-bay front. It features original sash windows with glazing bars, with a central three-light window above the original six-panel door. The door is framed by sidelights and overlights with latticed glazing, and is sheltered by a slate-roofed porch with a moulded entablature on paired Corinthian columns. A return on the left-hand side includes an early 20th-century bowed five-light window with horned sashes and glazing bars; a projecting two-window range is detailed to match the front elevation. The rear elevation features a six-window range with original hornless 12-pane sashes, with five blind openings on the right. A two-window service wing has original sashes over later, horned replacements. A 20th-century heightened coach house has three bays, mostly blind, except for one original sash window. The rear return of the coach house and stables has been altered in the 20th century.

The interior is largely complete and retains original features, including a segmental vault to the entrance hall and an adjacent vault to the stair hall with cross ribs. There is an open-well, open-string staircase with turned balusters, shaped brackets and a scrolled handrail over the newel. An acanthus ceiling cornice over the stair features a petalled central rose. The drawing room on the left has an anthemion over an egg and dart cornice and a marble chimney piece with florets to the frieze. The library (on the right) has a moulded ceiling cornice, and the dining room (behind the drawing room) has a marble chimney piece, an ornate cast-iron grate (similar to one at Lismore), and a probably later 19th-century interlaced ceiling band over an original egg and dart cornice. Copies of the architect's drawings are displayed in the entrance vestibule.