Description

TORQUAY

SX9263 ACADIA ROAD
885-1/18/478 (West side)
Erith House

GV II

House, built as a convalescent home. 1861 by JW Rowell and
still in use by the same Trust. Local grey limestone rubble
with red brick dressings; gabled slate roofs with crested
ridge tiles; stacks with stone shafts with cornices. Gothic
Revival style.
PLAN: Overall H-plan with a double-depth main block with an
axial corridor and crosswings at both ends. Porch projection
on E side with stair hall alongside to N.
EXTERIOR: Very complete. Almost symmetrical 5-bay entrance
front with coped gables to the crosswings. Centre 2 bays
slightly broken forward and gabled to the front with gabletted
roofs with cusped bargeboards and a corbelled stack between
with multiple shafts. Deep eaves on moulded corbels.
Polychromatic brick bands rise above the main windows, which
are stone, glazed with plate glass sashes with horizontal
glazing bars. Left (N) crosswing has a freestone canted bay on
the ground floor with hipped slate roof and tall lancet
windows with blind quatrefoils in the spandrels; triple lancet
to first floor above. Right crosswing has a pair of tall
lancets on the ground floor and a pair of crank-headed lancets
above with a quatrefoil window in the centre. Other windows
are arranged in pairs and threes and have chamfered stone
lintels.
Entrance front in the same style has a projecting 3-storey
porch with a double-chamfered crank-arched doorway and
original timber door. Gabled stair projection to N of porch
has cusped bargeboards and a large mullioned and transomed
3-light window with trefoil-headed lights and a brick
super-ordinate arch.
INTERIOR: Very complete with original joinery, chimey-pieces
and an open well stair with vaulted ceiling. An interesting
building type in a good state of preservation, and a robust
design by a noteworthy local architect.

Listing NGR: SX9298463811

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26502807

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

• 
  This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy
• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)
• 
  Farrow & Ball How to Decorate: Transform your home with paint & paper