Falcondale Hotel

The Falcondale Hotel is an Italian villa of an unusually large scale, dating from the 19th century. It is stuccoed with painted ashlar dressings and has deep-eaved, low-pitched hipped roofs. The building is set within a substantial site surrounded by utilitarian service ranges.

The main front appears to be based on an 'H' plan, with a two-storey central block flanked by two- and three-storey wings, the left wing also serving as the entrance front. The main front has a three-window arrangement to the centre, with arched windows above (two-light except for the centre single light) and plain windows below, which are now largely contained within a 20th-century glazed lean-to conservatory. A band runs above the ground floor, a sill course runs across the first floor, and a further band sits above both, along with a roughly tooled plinth which are carried around all the main facades. The upper windows have jambs that continue down through the sill course to the lower band. Two large stacks are located on the rear wall.

The wings are more elaborate; one has a wide bay to the front, with side-wall stacks (truncated on the right side) and deep eaves that overhang the ridge of the centre section. A key feature is a two-storey tripartite design of central French windows and side-lights enclosed within a richly pilastered frame. The upper window has a curved centre balcony, topped by a lead hipped roof. Above this, under the eaves, are three plainly-bordered square attic windows. Rock-faced angle quoins are also present. The tripartite feature is supported by rusticated piers, carrying corbels to the upper pilasters, with the centre pair being slimmer and further projected with brackets to the cornice. The centre first floor has an arched French window with a wrought iron bow-fronted balcony. The hipped roof originally projected forward over the centre, but this feature now only survives on the left wing.

The side and rear elevations feature large quoined chimneybreasts and plain window surrounds that match those of the centre or attic. The right side is regular with a central chimneybreast, while the left side has a chimneybreast set to the right, with a two-window range over a projecting, deep-eaved hipped porch. The porch has a Venetian tripartite arrangement of an arched door and sidelights, with a rusticated arch featuring a monogrammed keystone dated 1859. A prominent stack rises from the ridge on the rear of the left side, while the right side has a rear wall stack.

Extensive ranges are situated behind the main building, two to three storeys high, with some architectural detailing on the left side to match the entrance front, while the ranges on the right are more utilitarian.

Inside, a spine passage runs along the rear of the front rooms, leading to a cramped open well stair, which may not be the original main staircase. The main front rooms retain panelled shutters and window reveals, panelled doors, but the fireplaces are later replacements. A coffered ceiling is found in the left front room. The interior has undergone considerable alteration.