Numbers 7 And 8 And Attached Forecourt Walls And Iron Railings

A pair of large villas, Numbers 7 and 8, were built in the mid-19th century as part of a planned development, as shown on an 1860 map. They are constructed of incised stucco with stucco detailing, and have dry slate mansard roofs with a front and rear eaves entablature supported by widely spaced brackets. Each villa has four mansard windows with pediments, along with other four-pane horned sash windows; similar windows are present at the rear. Axial and end stacks feature stepped cornices.

The villas share a double-depth plan, arranged as near mirror images. The exterior is two storeys with an attic over a basement. The four-window front is unaltered, including a tripartite stair window (the second from the end) with a broken segmental pediment on consoles to the central light. End windows are positioned over corner porches, while other bays are regular with two windows to each floor, all featuring horned sashes within moulded architraves. Stucco details include rusticated quoins, a moulded plinth, and mid-floor strings. The flat-roofed porches are three bays wide, with sashes to the inner bays and a sash to each end return. The outer bays have pedimented doorways with carved tympana and engaged Tuscan columns on plinths; inner doorways have moulded and keyed architraves, leaded overlights, and panelled doors with fielded and bolection-moulded panels.

The rear elevation displays similar stucco detail and mostly horned sash windows, with a wrought-iron eaves balustrade. Each villa has a full-height canted bay to its end bay, topped by a smaller attic window with a polygonal roof. Number 8 has three regular inner bays; Number 7 has one similar bay and a bowed projection. A sash window in the bowed projection has been replaced with plain glass to the first-floor centre light, and the ground-floor light has been altered to create a doorway with an overlight and a pair of glazed doors.

The interior has not been inspected, but it is likely to be largely unaltered and to contain features reflecting the strong external architectural detail.

The property is complemented by forecourt walls topped with wrought-iron railings featuring arrow-head finials. These are virtually unaltered and represent a good example of a planned group of villas.