Abbott Lodge

Terraced two-bay four-storey house over raised basement, built c.1820, now in use as guest house. Pitched slate roof having rendered chimneystacks with terracotta pots, replacement uPVC rainwater goods and brick parapet wall with squared granite coping. Flemish bond yellow brick walls, rebuilt in English garden wall bond above third floor sill level, having moulded granite plinth and granite string course over coursed limestone walls to basement. Diminishing square-headed window openings with gauged brick voussoirs, patent rendered reveals and granite sills. Granite surround and sill to basement window. Replacement single-pane timber sliding sash windows throughout. Recent steel window guards to second floor windows. Round-headed door opening with gauged brick voussoirs, moulded reveals and stone doorcase comprising Ionic columns on stone bases surmounted by fluted and moulded cornice and single-pane overlight. Replacement timber panelled door opening onto granite flagged platform with limestone inset bridging basement having stepped granite approach. Square-headed door opening to basement with replacement timber door. Approach flanked by spearheaded wrought-iron railings on moulded granite plinths returning to enclose basement area. No access to paved basement area from street. Basement area shared with and accessed from No.86. Recent single-storey mews to rear of site spanning double plot, shared with No.88.

Dating from the early nineteenth century, this well-appointed house forms an integral component of Gardiner Street Lower, a significant streetscape in the north Georgian city. The street was developed by Lord Gardiner in the late eighteenth century, with leases dating from the 1790s. Gardiner Street Lower formed part of Gardiner's route from Beresford Place to Mountjoy Square, and No. 87 forms part of a surviving terrace along this street. Its fine façade has been largely maintained with the well-executed doorcase, while the use of historically sympathetic replacement windows in the front façade is a pleasant feature.