Survey Data
Reg No
50130297
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic
Previous Name
Rathdown Terrace
Original Use
House
In Use As
Building misc
Date
1880 - 1900
Coordinates
314434, 235609
Date Recorded
15/06/2018
Date Updated
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Description
Corner-sited two-bay two-storey two-pile former house over raised basement, built c. 1890 as one of terrace of fourteen, having full-height return to rear (south) elevation. Now in use as residential healthcare building. M-profile pitched roof, hipped to east end of rear pile, having granite barges to west end, red brick chimneystacks having clay pots to east and west ends and to return, profiled metal gutter supported on corbelled yellow brick eaves course, and replacement uPVC downpipes to return. Red brick walling to upper floors, laid in Flemish bond, having granite block-and-start quoins and yellow brick stringcourse, over granite plinth course and rock-faced granite walls to basement to front (north) elevation; red brick walling, laid in Flemish bond, having granite bock-and-start quoins over rendered walls to basement to side (west) elevation; and ruled-and-lined render to rear. Square-headed window openings with granite sills and one-over-one pane timber sliding sash windows. Round-headed principal doorway, with carved timber doorcase comprising panelled pilasters having scrolled brackets, supporting timber frieze and plain fanlight, with timber panelled door; square-headed doorway to basement with red brick block-and-start surrounds. Flight of twelve nosed granite steps and granite platform shared with house to east), with decorative cast-iron handrail on granite plinth to west side. Garden to front, bounded by decorative cast-iron railings on cut granite plinth, having decorative cast-iron pedestrian gate with ornate piers.
Appraisal
This well-built house terminates the west end of a terrace of fourteen late nineteenth-century houses with similar parapet heights and fenestration patterns. The combination of rock-faced granite and red brick adds visual and textural interest to the facade, and the retention of timber sash windows, as well as its carved timber door and doorcase, enhances the historic appearance of the building. The impressive steps and front garden and railings provide a fitting setting. The corbelled brick detailing to the eaves places the house in a late nineteenth-century context. The North Circular Road was laid out in the 1780s to create a convenient approach to the city, but it developed slowly over the following century, with little development west of Phibsborough until the 1870s.