house

Terraced two-bay four-storey house over exposed basement, built c.1805. Now in multiple occupancy. M-profile roof hidden behind rebuilt parapet wall with granite coping. Shared rendered chimneystacks to both party walls with clay pots and replacement rainwater goods breaking through parapet wall. Red brick walls laid in Flemish bond on painted masonry plinth course above rendered basement, rebuilt to top floor. Yellow brick walls to gabled rear elevation abutted by angled chimneystack. Gauged brick flat-arched window openings with painted masonry sills and replacement uPVC windows throughout. Gauged brick round-headed door opening with moulded surround and painted masonry tripartite Ionic doorcase, having blocked up sidelights, columns on plinth blocks, replacement timber door, supporting stepped lintel cornice with swag details and plain fanlight. Door opens onto granite platform and five granite steps bridging basement area with cast-iron bootscraper. Platform and basement area enclosed by original wrought-iron railings on painted moulded granite plinth wall to street.

Gardiner Street Upper was laid out by Luke Gardiner II as part of the development of Mountjoy Square in 1792, and this terrace, lining the west side of the street, was completed by 1818. The good Ionic doorcase provides a strong decorative focus to this Georgian townhouse. The retention of the entrance steps and of the gate, railings and plinth to the basement area, contributes significantly to the setting of the building. The house is a significant component of an important terrace and the whole contributes to the strongly Georgian character of the district.