20 Cathedral Road

Built of thinly coursed pennant sandstone rubble with Bath stone ashlar dressings, bands and quoins, Welsh slate roofs with bright red brick chimney heads. Based on the country house style of Norman Shaw in the 1875-80 period as well as having characteristic touches taken from Burges's Cardiff Castle, this house is actually almost a handed pair with the adjoining No 22 (qv), although given such a very different architectural finish. This is a large detached three storey villa with a three bay front to the street, 1 + 2, the left hand bay is recessed and is in the form of a four storey tower. It has a 3-light window on the ground floor, mullion-and-transom, with similar 2-light ones above; the top floor is corbeled out in the manner of Cardiff Castle and has a 3-light window in a smoothly finished wall. Bell-cast roof rising to a ball finial and with a tall stack going from stone to brick rising through the right hand side. The second bay is set forward and repeats the windows of the the first three floors of the tower. The main bay on the right has a 5-light semi-circular bay window on the first two floors with ashlar panels between and on the balcony balustrade above. The second floor has a 5-light window with transom. Plain coped gable above with three tall red brick stacks on the roof behind. The left hand elevation is blind. The right hand elevation has the entrance to the rear on the ground floor and large 4-light mullion-and-transom windows lighting the staircase above. Rear elevation not seen but the house appears not to have been extended.

Interior not available at time of resurvey.