Survey Data
Reg No
50130310
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic
Previous Name
Rathdown Terrace
Original Use
House
In Use As
Apartment/flat (converted)
Date
1880 - 1900
Coordinates
314520, 235653
Date Recorded
19/06/2018
Date Updated
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Description
Corner-sited end-of-terrace 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. M-profile pitched slate roof, hipped to west end of rear pile, with granite barges to east end and clay ridge tiles, 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 downpipe to west end. Red brick walling to upper floors, laid in Flemish bond, with yellow brick stringcourse to first floor window head level, granite plinth course and snecked limestone walling to basement; granite quoins to corners of east gable, rusticated to basement level; red brick, laid in Flemish bond, to gable, having similar details to front elevation; rendered to rear. Square-headed window openings with granite sills, having red brick block-and-start surround to basement, and replacement uPVC windows. Round-headed principal doorway, with carved timber doorcase comprising panelled pilasters having scrolled brackets, supporting timber frieze and plain fanlight, and timber panelled door; square-headed doorway to basement, having red brick block-and-start surround. Flight of ten nosed granite steps and granite platform shared with house to west, having cast-iron rail to east and wrought-iron to west, latter with cast-iron uprights. Garden to front, bounded by decorative cast-iron railings on cut granite plinth, with decorative cast-iron pedestrian gate having ornate piers.
Appraisal
This well-built house terminates the eastern end of a terrace of fourteen late nineteenth-century houses with similar parapet heights and fenestration patterns. The combination of snecked limestone and red brick adds visual and textural interest to the facade. The corbelled brick detailing to the eaves places the house in a late nineteenth-century context. The impressive steps and retention of the timber panelled door and doorcase greatly enhance the building. The North Circular Road was laid out in the 1780s to create a convenient approach to the city. It developed slowly over the following century with little development west of Phibsborough till the 1870s.