Vane Towers Villa Lugano

Vane Towers and Villa Lugano is a villa that was built around 1870. It has been divided into three separate units and is constructed from snecked local grey limestone with a Roman tile roof. The building features stacks with elaborate brick shafts, corbelled cornices, and round-headed flue dividers.

The villa has an irregular plan with the main entrance located on the northwest side and a tower at the eastern corner. It stands two storeys high with an attic and includes a three-stage tower. The front elevation is asymmetrical with four windows, one of which is located in the tower on the right. The eaves are very deep with moulded rafter ends, and there is decorative polychromatic banding of relief tiles and stone. The windows have elaborate architraves, some featuring keyblocks and tiled lintels.

In the centre of the main block, there is a projecting porch topped with a gable that is treated as a pediment above a projecting cornice. The round-headed doorway is flanked by corner pilasters and features an inner order of moulded tiles, alongside a panelled front door with a fanlight. Above the porch, the front elevation is recessed and includes a one-light window. Most of the windows are high-transomed mullioned windows with square leaded panes, although there has been an unfortunate replacement of a window on the second floor to the right.

The tower, which is set back to the right, has a hipped slate roof with eaves brackets, and its windows are round-headed, arranged in pairs or singles. The other elevations continue the elaborate polychromatic Italianate style. The interior has been partially inspected, revealing one of the principal rooms with an elaborate inglenook, and it is likely that other interesting features remain. This building is a prominent landmark in Torquay and is said to have been built for the first American Ambassador to England.