Melbourne House

Melbourne House is a detached house built in 1768, as indicated by the datestone on the stack. It features English bond brickwork with chamfered stone quoins and a hipped stone slate roof, complete with gable end brick stacks. The house is designed in an L-shape and has two storeys plus an attic, with a three-window front.

The central entrance has a door with six fielded panels set within a stone architrave, topped by a flat stone hood and accessed by steps. Flanking the door are tripartite sash windows with a higher central light, all framed in beaded architraves. On the first floor, there is a central sash window with a pediment supported by consoles, along with another tripartite sash window on either side. The eaves are adorned with a moulded stone cornice.

The left side of the house features a four-light chamfered mullioned casement window that lights the basement, and a three-light steel casement window to the left. The first floor has a 12-pane sash window in a beaded architrave, with a stepped brick eaves cornice above. At the rear, there is a two-storey 19th-century addition on the right, which includes French windows and sash windows that light the stairs, as well as a lean-to kitchen extension with casement windows. The main range has two hipped dormers, while the right wing has one dormer, all fitted with plastic-framed casements.

Inside, the drawing room features an eared marble fireplace surround, a dado with fielded panels, and a corner cupboard with fielded panelling and shaped shelves. There is a round arch with a keystone, and the doors throughout the house have either two or four fielded panels in moulded architraves. The 19th-century staircase has a closed string and turned balusters. The attic boasts a three-bay roof with kneed principals. Notably, one of the first-floor windows has the name Mary Whitaker and the date 1789 scratched onto a pane. The house was likely built for William Whitaker, a member of a prosperous clothier family.