Survey Data
Reg No
50120161
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic
Original Use
House
In Use As
House
Date
1840 - 1850
Coordinates
318300, 236289
Date Recorded
21/11/2017
Date Updated
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Description
Terraced two-bay two-storey house over raised basement, built c. 1845 as one of five, with attic accommodation, and having return to rear (north) elevation. Pitched artificial slate roof, having rendered chimneystack to east end with clay pots, hidden behind rendered parapet with moulded render cornice and eaves course. Ruled-and-lined rendered walling to front, with moulded render platband at first floor sill level, on moulded render plinth course over rendered basement walling. Square-headed window openings with moulded render architraves to ground and first floors, granite sills to basement and ground floor and continuous moulded render sill course to first floor; timber sliding sash windows to front elevation, six-over-six pane to ground and first floors, margined to ground, and ten-over-ten pane to basement; round and square-headed window openings apparent to rear. Elliptical-headed doorway with moulded render surround, carved timber doorcase comprising panelled pilasters with scrolled brackets supporting panelled frieze and leaded fanlight with some hand-painted glass, and timber panelled door. Entrance approached by shared flight of ten nosed granite steps, platform having decorative cast-iron bootscrape and decorative cast-iron railings with ornate end panel to east. Garden to front, bounded to footpath by panelled rendered wall with granite coping, and having square-plan panelled rendered piers and cast-iron gate.
Appraisal
The house retains all of its original external form and character, which is enhanced by the survival of decorative plasterwork that places this building within a mid-nineteenth-century context. The well-designed doorcase, particularly its delicate leaded fanlight and hand-painted glass, adds artistic interest to the composition, and the retention of early timber sash windows contributes to its historic integrity. The survival of the wrought and cast-ironwork to the railings contributes to its suburban residential character. The house was constructed to take advantage of the sea views, prior to land reclamation projects associated with the enlargement of Dublin Port. The terrace comprises houses with similar parapet heights and fenestration patterns, contributing a sense of continuity to the streetscape. It incorporates a larger house at its east end. The land was leased by John Vernon, responsible for much residential and commercial development in Clontarf in the nineteenth century, and this road was originally named Vernon Parade.