Survey Data
Reg No
50010809
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic
Original Use
House
In Use As
Office
Date
1790 - 1795
Coordinates
316054, 235543
Date Recorded
05/12/2011
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Terraced two-bay four-storey house over exposed basement, built c.1792, having four-storey return to rear (north) elevation. Now in use as offices. Double-pile slate roof, pitched to front (south) elevation, with two hipped projections set perpendicular to rear. Shared brown brick and rendered chimneystacks having clay pots hidden behind rebuilt red brick parapet wall with granite coping. Cast-iron rainwater goods having round hopper to east of façade. Red brick walls laid in Flemish bond with cement pointing to painted granite plinth course over painted rendered wall to basement. Rendered wall to rear having metal balconies and ladders. Gauged brick flat-arched window openings with patent rendered reveals, granite sills and replacement timber sash windows, two-over-two pane to second floor, one-over-one pane to ground and first floors, with recent tripartite one-over-one pane to to basement, and replacement uPVC windows to third floor, cast-iron balconettes to first floor windows. Square-headed window openings to rear having flush reveals, painted sills and replacement uPVC windows. Round-headed door opening with moulded masonry surround and painted stone Ionic doorcase, and replacement timber panelled door flanked by engaged Ionic columns supporting fluted lintel cornice, with plain fanlight. Door opens onto granite platform with three granite steps bridging basement. Platform and basement enclosed by original wrought-iron railings and cast-iron corner posts set on painted moulded granite plinth wall to street having matching iron gate providing basement access. Tiled steps and steel railings to basement. Recent timber door under entrance platform.
Appraisal
This house is unusual among others on the terrace in being two bays wide. It a fine doorcase that acts as a decorative focus for the facade, and the cast-iron balconettes to the first floor add subtle decorative interest. The retention of timber sash windows enhances the architectural heritage quality of the building, as do the steps and landing to the entrance and the railings, gate and plinth protecting the basement area. The house makes a strong contribution to the important urban landscape of Mountjoy Square. Mountjoy Square was built on lands formerly belonging to Saint Mary’s Abbey and laid out in 1790 by Luke Gardiner II, completed by 1818. Originally called Gardiner Square, it was planned to develop a strong vista from Custom House to Mountjoy Square and thence to the planned Royal Circus. Unlike other Georgian squares in the city, this example was more carefully laid out with a unified parapet height and the east-west approaches offset to create a sense of enclosure. After falling into serious neglect and dereliction throughout the twentieth-century resulting in the loss of one third of its original buildings, the square has since been repaired.