Mulberry House

Mulberry House is a large villa, likely dating from the 1860s, and now incorporated into Mount St Mary Convent School for Girls. It is constructed of mass wall construction, rendered and finished with stucco, and has a hipped slate roof. The rendered chimney shafts have decorative bands, with some terracotta chimney pots tapering and others a paler ceramic. Cast iron rainwater goods are also present.

The building has a deep rectangular plan with additional service blocks to the rear, although some internal re-arrangement has occurred. Rooms are heated by front lateral, axial, and end chimney stacks. The exterior is two storeys with an attic and basement. It features deep boxed eaves on brackets, and a platband at the first floor sill level. The asymmetrical front facade has five windows. The entrance is in the second bay from the left, prominently projecting beneath an open pediment with a moulded cornice instead of the platband, flanked by two-tier pilasters. A pilastered doorcase has moulded capitals and a round-headed moulded arch with a keyblock, leading to a two-leaf six-panel front door with a fanlight. Narrow two-over-two-pane sash windows flank the door, each with a moulded cornice. The first-floor window above the porch is round-headed with a moulded architrave, keyblock, moulded brackets below the sill, and an oculus window in the gable. Similar windows are found to the first floor right of the porch, but without sill blocks. A ground floor window to the left has a moulded eared architrave and apron and is a 12-pane sash. Other ground floor windows are similar but without the ears, also with 12-pane sashes. The garden elevation on the left return has a two-storey canted bay window. A deeply projecting cornice spans the canted bay between the ground and first floors, with a plain platband to the remaining bays. Eared architraves with brackets beneath the sills are present on first floor 12-pane hornless sash windows. A 12-pane sash window with architrave and cornice is found on the ground floor. Canted bay windows at ground floor level are round headed, with keyblocks, pilasters, and plain valances, and contain French casement windows with glazing bars. A gable on the right return is open pedimented and features a ground floor door, with small-paned round-headed windows with architraves and keyblocks at the first and attic levels.

The interior was partially inspected, and some original internal doors and wooden window shutters remain. The building is principally valued as a complete and good example of a mid-19th century classical villa.