The Ridge was designed in 1896 and built in 1899 for Robert Frank Valiance FRIBA, a Mansfield architect, to his own design. He is first listed in the 1900 electoral register at that address, and died there in 1908. His only daughter, Mary, continued to live there until c.1918. The property passed out of private ownership in March 1950 when it was bought by Nottinghamshire County Council, and converted to a children's home, opening in November 1951. The houses in the Park and Park Avenue were built between 1891 and 1912, on land belonging to the Manor of Mansfield for prominent local people. Of these residences, The Ridge and Lochbuie, situated on the brow of a hill, are the best examples. Standing in extensive grounds with mature trees, these houses stand out in the conservation area, which otherwise comprises smaller semi-detached houses of the 1870s and 1880s built of Mansfield stone, Midland Imperial red brick, and slate roofs, and mock-Tudor houses of the 1920s, much 'improved' in recent years. But Lochbuie and The Ridge were the forerunners of these; large detached houses with coach houses, in an eclectic English vernacular style revived by George Devey in the 1860s… The style in the Mansfield houses is less confidently handled, perhaps, than by Devey or Richard Norman Shaw, but nevertheless instantly recognisable as the style popular at the turn of the century and later. The houses are - reminiscent, too, of the work of Nottingham architect Watson Fothergill (1841-1928), whose style was 'an idiosyncratic combination of polychrome Gothic and half-timbering.’ Fothergill's offices in George Street, Nottingham (1894-5), and the Queens Chambers, Long Row, Nottingham (1897), were both clearly an inspiration to Valiance, with their eclectic mix of octagonal castellated tower, half-timbered gables with carved barge boards, brick banding and oriel windows characterising the architecture. Unfortunately, The Ridge has an ugly and unsympathetic 1970s extension, which could be removed. (1)

Predominantly red brick, with areas of tile hanging, diaper work and close stud timber framing, with Mansfield Stone for window surrounds and entrance porch. The roof is plain tiled with an elaborate variety of roof designs. The building is of a complex planform and design, using a variety of projecting gables and bays with conical roofs, with the first storey over sailing the ground floor in places in a jettied structure. The front elevation has a gable to the left, which overhangs a first floor canted, oriel window on timber brackets. To the right is the front entrance, making use of classical detailing around the door in stone with balustrading above. Above this is a part canted bay with stone Tudor Gothic tracery in the windows and crenellated parapet. To the right is a two storey canted bay forming the corner of the building, with stone mullions at ground floor level, timber framing at first floor with polygonal roof and finial. An imposing feature is the double height entrance hall seen on the side elevation, with two turreted bay windows linked at first floor level by a wooden veranda. The adjacent coach house/stable block has steeply pitched, red tiled roof. (2)

<1> English Heritage, 2002, Lochbuie and The Ridge The Park, Mansfield (Unpublished document). SNT5233.

<2> Mansfield District Council, 2004, Mansfield District Council Local List (Published document). SNT5967.