History

Built in the third quarter of the C19, probably by W.G. Habershon, architect to the Tredegar Estate, for J.E. Billups, a local railway contractor. The monograms JEB and SCB are on the building. The building became part of the adjacent Cardiff Intermediate School for Girls of 1897-1900 (now Coleg Glan Hafren), being attached to its assembly hall by means of a single-story link to the rear of the house. It has subsequently become a separate English language college.

Exterior

Jacobean style 3-bay villa of 2 storeys and attic. The front is of ashlar with rusticated quoins and dressings in lighter stone, comprising a narrow central entrance bay with cupola flanked by wide and slightly projecting outer bays under shaped gables. The gables project on moulded kneelers which have obelisk pinnacles. The roof is slate. On the R side are 2 stone stacks, which have 3 (originally 4) tall freestone shafts with cusped lozenge panels in relief to the front, and 5 similar shafts to the rear stack. A single stone stack on the L side has 4 similar tall shafts. The entrance portico has paired Tuscan columns on high panelled bases and Doric entablature, while behind it are Tuscan pilasters framing the round-headed doorway with keystone. The door and overlight are replaced in the original opening. Above the portico is a narrow replaced window with original transom and strapwork cresting over a deep moulded cornice. The outer bays have 2-storey canted bays incorporating 2-light mullioned and transomed windows and with an open balustrade, and plain basement sash windows. The attic has 2-light windows with strapwork cresting over deep cornices. In the gables are short sill and cornice bands to shields with relief monograms 'LCB' to the L and 'SCB' to the R, also with strapwork cresting. The apex has ball and obelisk finials. The central polygonal cupola has an ogee domical lead roof and pinnacle with weathervane. Each facet has a 2-light window with plain arched lights.

The side and rear walls are snecked rock-faced Pennant sandstone, The R side has a single sash window upper centre and broad freestone band between storeys. The L side wall is similar, but has added escape stairs linked with the adjacent Coleg Glan Hafren. The 3-bay rear elevation has shaped gables with eaves and apex finials similar to the front. In the lower storey the 3-light mullioned and transomed windows have a central half-glazed door opening on to a terrace, which has a basement beneath, also with 3-light mullioned windows. The upper storey has smaller 3-light mullioned and transomed in the outer bays, and 2-light attic windows below narrow vents. The central doorway has a tooled stone surround and is surmounted by strapwork cresting. A half-glazed panelled door has an overlight and a half-glazed panel to its R. Above the doorway is a 2-light stair window with strapwork cresting.

Interior

An entrance lobby has half-glazed panel doors incorporating etched glass panels, with similar glazed side and overlights (replaced glass on R side). The central stair hall has a fine Jacobean full-height open-well stair, which is the principal interior feature. It has open strapwork balusters. At the bottom is a square newel with detached shafts and surmounted by a brass lamp holder. In the upper storeys the newels are plainer, with blind strapwork. The soffit has wood panelling. The stairs to the attic is plainer still, with fielded-panel balustrade. From the stair hall is a depressed plastered arch leading to the rooms on the L side of the house, and panel doors to the rooms on the R. The first-floor landing has similar arches leading to the main rooms. Originally 2 rooms deep, in the lower storey the 2 original rooms on the R side of the house are now amalgamated into a single room, but 2 marble fireplaces with classical detail are retained. The first-floor rooms on the R side the house are similar, but the front room has a richer fireplace. Another marble fireplace is in the front L room in the upper storey, but its lintel is missing.

Reasons for Listing

Listed for architectural interest as the finest of the surviving villas built in Tredegarville in the 3rd quarter of the C19, retaining high-quality detail in a striking overall design.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q29503531

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Listed Buildings, Conservation Areas and Monuments
• 
  Building Small Projects (New Best of Fine Woodworking)
• 
  Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East: Norwich and North-east v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
• 
  Hampshire: Winchester and the North (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings