Survey Data
Reg No
50930100
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic
Original Use
House
In Use As
Office
Date
1815 - 1825
Coordinates
316658, 233163
Date Recorded
25/09/2015
Date Updated
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Description
Attached two-bay four-storey over basement former townhouse, built c. 1820, with two-storey return to rear (east). Now in use as offices. Pitched roof to west with hipped north section, irregular M-profiled hipped roofs to rear (east) span, concealed by brick parapet with masonry coping. Shouldered brick chimneystacks to south party wall with lipped red clay pots. Parapet gutters. Brown brick walling laid in Flemish bond, rendered walling to basement beneath granite plinth course. Square-headed window openings with brick voussoirs, patent reveals and masonry sills. Largely late-nineteenth century one-over-one timber sliding sash windows with ogee horns, uPVC casements to second and third floor, replacement six-over-six timber casement to basement. Decorative cast-iron balconettes to first floor openings. Round-headed door opening with brick voussoirs, moulded reveals and recessed surround containing panelled frieze with garlands and moulded cornice carried on half-fluted Doric columns over plinth stops, with plain fanlight and raised-and-field timber panelled door having replacement brass furniture. Granite entrance platform approached by four granite steps, flanked by iron railings with decorative cast-iron corner posts on granite plinth, enclosing basement to south-side. Coal-hole cover to pavement. Concrete steps to basement. Street fronted on eastern side of Fitzwilliam Street Upper. Modernised two-storey mews building to rear (east) plot with hipped artificial slate roof, roughcast walls, uPVC windows and square-headed integral carriage-arch. Vehicular entrance to eastern boundary on Lad Lane, flanked by dressed stone piers and abutted by rubble stone wall with concrete coping over and pierced by square-headed pedestrian opening with brick surrounds and replacement timber doors.
Appraisal
This former townhouse retains its traditional form and proportions, mellow brick which contrasts with the granite dressings, well executed ironwork, and a handsome Doric doorcase. The development of Fitzwilliam Street Upper began on the north-end of the western side during the early-nineteenth century. Taken as a whole with Fitzwilliam Street Upper and the east-side of the Merrion Square, this uninterrupted stretch constitutes the longest piece of Georgian streetscape in Dublin. Although largely homogenous in character and form, the subtle variations between the houses are indicative of the speculative nature of development.