Ambrook Little Ambrook Lower Ambrook

This is a villa, originally one large house but later subdivided into three separate dwellings, built in the 1870s. The building is stuccoed, with remnants of the original timber framing visible beneath, and has hipped slate roofs and stacks with rendered shafts and deeply projecting cornices.

The plan comprises a double-depth rectangular main block and a north service wing. The exterior features deep eaves supported by paired moulded brackets, corner pilasters, eaves and verge bands, a moulded sill band, and a platband. The main facade is asymmetrical, with a 3-window front to the main block and a 3-window front to the service wing. A central bay of the main block projects forward and is gabled. All windows are 2-over-2 sashed windows, with horizontal glazing bars. The central entrance has a round-headed doorway with a moulded architrave and vermiculated keyblock, and a 6-panel door with a plain overlight. A round-headed first-floor window is similarly detailed, with a moulded and pilastered architrave and a keyblock. A shallow projecting stack, decorated with scratch-moulded panels, is on the right-hand side. Windows in the left-hand bay have moulded architraves. The service wing has a plainer 3-window facade.

The right-hand return features a balustraded terrace and two 2-storey canted bays, gabled to the front. The first-floor windows on this return are round-headed with pilastered moulded architraves, while others are square-headed with moulded architraves. The rear elevation is in a similar style, with a central gabled projection. The interior remains largely unseen but may contain noteworthy features. The villa is paired with Torview to the south and is highly visible from the Exeter Road, representing a well-preserved example of a conventionally-planned late 19th-century Torquay villa in an unspoiled suburban area.