Holme House And Greta Cottage

Holme House and Greta Cottage are a large villa dating to 1889, located in Chelston, Torquay. The exterior features plastered red sandstone walls and natural slate roofs, with stacks having rendered shafts, sunk panels, and deep projecting cornices. The building’s plan comprises a main rectangular block with a double-depth layout, an entrance on the northwest corner leading to a stair hall, and a service block to the east.

The exterior is highly intact and richly detailed. The garden front is asymmetrical, with three bays to the front and two to the service block. It has deep eaves with consoles, a moulded sill band, a platband, stuccoed quoins to the ground floor, and paired pilasters on the first floor. Two two-storey canted bays are on the left, topped with deep pyramidal slate roofs, sprocketed eaves, and wrought-iron crowns. The windows are segmental-headed and contain original two-pane sashes with plastered architraves, consoles, and faceted keyblocks. Recessed balustrading sits below some first-floor windows. The centre windows feature floating cornices on consoles. The service wing has a shallow, projecting stack flanked by windows with proud architraves. An entrance tower in the northwest corner has a conical roof and a round-headed doorway with a door featuring faceted panels and original hardware, which is topped with a floating cornice on consoles. The first floor has a pair of round-headed windows with pilastered architraves, keyblocks, and a section of blind balustrading below the sills.

The interior is exceptionally well-preserved and lavishly fitted. Features include stained glass, a straight-flight stair with a Jacobean-style balustrade and mahogany handrail, marble fireplaces, and outstanding plaster cornices with paired motifs of birds and fruit. The service block includes a coal lift to transfer coal from the cellar to the kitchen.

The villa is said to have been built for a Dr Black by a builder named Blatchford, costing £1,700. Blatchford built several large villas in the Chelston area. It is a rare example of a large, late villa in Torquay remaining in single ownership and preserving an almost perfect state of preservation. The building occupies a prominent site visible from many parts of Chelston, an unspoiled suburb of Torquay.