Former Notre Dame Training College Wing To East, Former Dowanside House, 74 Victoria Crescent Road

This is a large, circa 1855, former double villa, originally known as Dowanside House, with significant additions and alterations. It is located at 74 Victoria Crescent Road and was later extended in 1898 by Pugin & Pugin, and further modified in 1896 with an additional wing. The building originally comprised two dwellings, but was later adapted for use as a training college.

The original villa is constructed of coursed ashlar with a base course, architraved and corniced windows, and a dentilled eaves cornice. Bay windows project from the advanced outer bays. A cill course runs along the first floor, and the roof is a mansard style with dormers. Originally, angled entrance doors were set into the former bays towards the left and right, but these have been altered.

Attached to the south side is a three-storey and attic wing, built in 1896 and primarily constructed from red sandstone. This wing features cill courses, roll-moulded openings, and bay windows to the end bays. Round-headed windows are present on the second floor, and a central buttress dated 1896 supports a round-headed niche containing a statue of the Virgin Mary, surmounted by a cross that breaks the eaves. Some windows are stone mullioned or incorporate mullions and transoms, and piended dormers are visible in the attic.

The main (south) elevation of the original villa is symmetrical, with tripartite canted bays flanking the central two bays. Recessed, angled entrance doors are located at the outer corners, accessed by a flight of steps. Each entrance has a pilastered and corniced doorpiece with a fanlight above.

The main (south) elevation of the 1896 wing is also symmetrical, with tripartite canted bays flanking the central four bays. It is connected to a linking wing that extends towards a former training college and a now associated primary school.

The original villa has predominantly timber sash and case windows, some with plate glass, some with two panes, and some with horns. Timber mullions have been inserted on the first floor and one on the ground floor of the main elevation. The roof is covered in graded grey slates, and gable stacks are present. The 1896 wing also has predominantly plate glass timber sash and case windows with horns, and a grey slate roof.

The interior of the original villa retains many original features despite later subdivisions and alterations. Each half of the original villa structure is largely mirrored. A particularly impressive feature is the composite columned entrance hall with cornicing and a staircase with a decorative cast-iron banister, topped by a glazed cupola (now partially obscured by the later addition of a storey). A stained and painted glass upper panel survives on the entrance door to the left. Deeply undercut cornices are found in the principal rooms, alongside some original marble fireplaces and high-quality timberwork. The top floor, added by Pugin & Pugin, is supported by distinctive decorative chamfered timber posts, a feature also found in the separate listing for the chapel. The interior of the 1896 wing is more simple, with one large classroom featuring slender cast-iron columns.

To the south, a low coped sandstone boundary wall runs with railings, punctuated by pairs of stone square piers with pyramidal caps on the left, and some slender cast-iron piers on the right. Decorative cast-iron railings are present at the villa entrances.