Avila House

Terraced two-bay two-storey yellow brick house, c.1880. Refenestrated, c.1990. One of a group of three. Gable-ended roof (shared) with slate. Clay ridge tiles. Red brick chimney stack (shared). Cast-iron rainwater goods. Yellow brick Flemish bond walls. Shallow segmental-headed window openings. Stone sills. Red brick dressings. Replacement uPVC casement windows, c.1990. Shallow segmental-headed door opening. Red brick dressings. Replacement glazed timber panelled door, c.1990. Overlight. Road fronted. Concrete brick cobbled footpath to front.

This house, built as one of a group of three, is an attractive small-scale range that retains most of its original form and much of its original character. The house, together with the remaining houses in the group (11817025, 107/KD-22-17-25, 107), is of social and historical significance, representing a small-scale development that continued the expansion of Kildare town in the late nineteenth century. Constructed in yellow brick with red brick dressings the house attests to the advances in technology in the late nineteenth century that allowed for the mass-production of brick, and the resulting building is typical of the Victorian taste for polychromatic designs, a relatively uncommon feature in the historic core of Kildare town. The house retains most of its original form and character, although the replacement fenestration is not a positive feature of the composition – the re-instatement of traditional-style timber fenestration (using the extant models to the house to left (west) as a reference point) might restore a more accurate representation of the original appearance of the house. The house is an attractive feature on the streetscape of Claregate Street, continuing the established streetline of the street while contributing to the varied roofline of the terrace.