1, PALK STREET (See details for further address information)

No. 1 Palk Street, also known as No. 2 Vaughan Parade, is a Grade II listed building in Torquay, built in 1831 by Jacob Harvey. This structure was originally a library, billiard, and public rooms, and is now used as offices. It features a plastered exterior with a gabled slate roof and a stack with a rendered shaft and plain band.

The building has three storeys and a symmetrical five-bay front, distinguished by giant engaged columns on the first and second floors, which spring from a platband topped with a plain parapet. The columns were originally Ionic. Each bay on the ground floor has a segmental-headed recess filled with modern doors and windows. The first-floor windows are 6 over 9-pane sashes, while the second-floor windows are 3 over 6-pane sashes. The rear elevation retains two original ground floor tripartite sashes and a door to the left.

Historically, this building was first known as Cole's Library and later referred to as the Public Rooms until 1846, when it was converted into a house for W. Kitson, a solicitor, and subsequently included offices. An illustration from 1840 shows a central round-headed doorway with a fanlight and small-pane round-headed windows on the ground floor.