Ardvar

Ardvar is a large villa built in the 1870s, which is not shown on the 1866 Ordnance Survey map. The building is cement-rendered and has a blocked-out entrance elevation that is painted white. It features a hipped slate roof and stacks with rendered shafts and moulded cornices. The villa has a double-depth plan with a service wing adjoining to the left of the front.

The exterior is two storeys high and has deep eaves supported by paired moulded brackets. There are eaves and verge bands, a platband, and a moulded string at the first-floor sill level. The corners are accentuated with rusticated quoins, some of which have vermiculated rustication. The windows are adorned with moulded architraves, including some round-headed windows with pilasters. Most windows are fitted with 2-pane plate glass sashes.

The front elevation has three bays, with the centre bay projecting forward and topped with a gable. A porch features paired Doric columns, entablatures, and a deep projecting cornice. The round-headed doorway has a 4-panel door and a plain fanlight with stained glass. Above the door, there is a first-floor window with paired round-headed lights. The left-hand bay includes one window on the ground floor and one on the first floor, while the right-hand bay has a shallow projecting stack with a shaft that extends through the eaves and one first-floor window with a balustraded stuccoed balcony supported by deep stone brackets. The right return has window cills and remains of louvred sun shutters on the first-floor windows.

The rear elevation continues in the same style with four windows, including one first-floor window that has a stuccoed balcony matching the entrance front and a ground-floor bay with a balustraded parapet that serves as a balcony for the first-floor window above. The service wing to the right is slightly plainer and has an M roof.

The interior has not been inspected but is reported to be very complete. Ardvar is a rare example of a large villa in Torbay, with its details intact and still in use as a domestic residence, set within its original garden. An extension to the service wing, currently used as the Blue Haze Retirement Home, is not included in the listing.