History

Villa of c1875-80 in the style of J.P. Seddon, but not recorded among his known works. Built for Hugh Hughes, solicitor. Occupied by Hugh Hughes solicitor aged 73, his wife Ellen Sophia aged 63 and son Hugh, also solicitor in 1881 census. Hugh Hughes in 1895, Mrs Hughes in 1926. Owned in later C20 by Mrs Gale of Coliseum Theatre. Restored as part of sheltered housing scheme by Ceredigion District Council architects 1991.

Exterior

House, Victorian Gothic style, snecked brown rubble stone with tooled grey quoins, dressings in tooled pale pink stone. Steep slate eaves roofs with terracotta ridge tiles. Gables with open timber work in apex. Two storeys, Gothic style. Slate-roofed veranda around W and S fronts and E end on iron lattice supports with quatrefoil spandrels, paved with red and black tile. Raised plinth, ashlar window surrounds with stopped chamfers. W front has projecting gable to left, ground floor pair of segmental-pointed windows with hoodmoulds continued out to each side, first floor triangular oriel with slate roof and moulded ashlar base. Ashlar sill course with zig-zag moulding carried across W and S fronts. Range to right has short ridge stack with chamfered shoulders to left and 2 first floor 4-pane sashes in square-headed chamfered surrounds. Ground floor has door to left and canted ashlar bay to right both in veranda which is carried around bay with canted hipped roof and hipped at SW angle. Door has chamfered and stopped segmental-pointed surround and double half-glazed doors with overlight. Bay has long main lights, double to front, and top lights S gable end has ground floor similar canted ashlar bay in veranda and first floor narrower timber canted bay with slate-hanging below and hipped slate roof. Canted light in first floor corner with little gable and ashlar moulded base between projecting S gable and main S range. S range has ridge and E end stacks similar to that on W range, ground floor big triple mullioned window and first floor canted oriel rising from veranda with slate-hung apron, 4-pane sashes and canted hipped roof, with eaves at main eaves level. E end has ground floor French window with segmental pointed overlight in veranda, and small canted ground floor window in angle. Then lower hipped roof in angle with big side-wall E stack. Service wing S has eaves-breaking dormer gable with apex timbers and wall-face stack to right. C20 door and window below.
N range has windows set to left, big 3-light stone-mullioned stair-light with marginal glazing bars and top lights. Segmental pointed door below. Two bays to left: the first with bargeboarded dormer, first floor servants' stair light of 2 4-pane sashes separated by a transom, and 4-pane sash to ground floor, the left one with 4-pane sash each floor. Relieving arches to ground floor windows. Hipped NE corner roof with E end stack Lower service wing to left has 2 eaves breaking dormers one with one sash the other with pair. Segmental pointed triple window to ground floor right and door and narrow sash to left. E gable has similar apex timbers over timber square oriel and ground floor sash with relieving arch.

Interior

Interiors altered with loss of fireplaces in all rooms. Entrance hall has unusual 8-panel doors in doorcases with much notched work in zigzag, roll-moulds and roundels, with cross in upper corners. Deep skirting boards. Segmental-pointed hall arch with two Gothic angle shafts with carved floral capitals and shaft rings. Open-well Gothic stair, closed strings with trefoil roundels, turned balusters and big turned newels with square blocks, and octagonal finials and pendants. Three flights up to landing. Another similar segmental-pointed arch on landing.

Reasons for Listing

Listed as a substantial later C19 suburban villa in Victorian Gothic style, one of a group of such villas around Aberystwyth. In the style of J.P. Seddon, but not recorded among his known works.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q29503913

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

• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East: Norwich and North-east v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects by Harwood, Richard (2012) Paperback
• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability