Description:Numbers 23 and 24 The Villas, despite their size, are two "third class" houses (see below). Number 24 is adjacent to London Road and was used as a Doctor’s surgery. The house has been modified and extended since it was built. Both houses are 2-storeyed semi-detached, stucco and pantiled roof buildings, Italianate in style with round-arched sash windows. They are both grade II listed buildings.
The Stokeville Building Society was formed in 1850 by a group of prominent Stoke families whose aim was to build their own homes. They bought an area of 7 acres (nearly 3 hectares), lying between London Road and Trent Valley Road. The architect Charles Lynam was employed to design the 24 'superior houses' to be built in the area which became known as Stokeville. It's an early example of middle-class suburban housing development and became known as The Villas. Most were built between 1851 and 1855. The houses, both detached and semi-detached, are laid out along three roads and look Italianate in style. The houses were built in three classes, offering a range of accommodation, although all provided accommodation for servants to “live in” and were clearly built for the middle classes. Ten Villas were 'first class houses', six 'second class' and the remaining eight 'third class'. The Villas was designated the city’s first Conservation Area and many of the houses are grade II listed buildings.