house

Terraced two-bay two-storey house over raised basement, built c. 1855, as one of terrace of eleven. Return to rear. Pitched slate roof, with rendered chimneystacks having terracotta pots, partly concealed behind parapet with cut granite coping. Shared cast-iron rainwater goods. Brown brick, laid in Flemish bond, to wall to front (south) elevation, having cut granite plinth course over lined-and-ruled rendered basement wall. Square-headed window openings with granite sills, rendered reveals, mixed one-over-one pane timber sliding sash and replacement. Tripartite timber sliding sash window having round-headed panes to ground floor. Cast-iron bars, to basement window. Timber panelled shutters visible to interior. Elliptical-headed door opening with moulded render surround. Timber doorcase comprising Ionic pillars supporting carved cornice. Leaded decorative fanlight having roundel. Timber panelled door with brass details. Nosed granite steps having cast-iron boot-scrape to platform and cast-iron railings on granite plinth walls. Square-headed door opening with recent door to basement. Cast-iron pedestrian gate having spoked finials and matching railings on rendered plinth wall enclosing basement area.

A well-proportioned house retaining historic features including a well-executed doorcase and an eye-catching tripartite timber sliding sash window. Its fine railings are testament to the quality of Victorian mass-produced ironwork, and add to both the setting of the house and the character to the streetscape. Built for the growing middle class, its classically-influenced style denoted respectability. Up to the early 1840s the area that now comprises Grantham Street was still largely greenfield. However suburb development soon followed, and P. Monks was building on the street in the late 1850s. In 1862, Thom's Almanac noted that a number of houses were still being built on the street at the time. It also listed a broad range of residents including a professor of music, secretary of Army Medical Board, toothbrush maker, manufacturer, and curate.