house

Detached three-bay three-storey townhouse, extant 1840, on a rectangular plan. Part refenestrated, 1988. Pitched slate roof with clay ridge tiles, rendered chimney stacks having capping supporting terracotta pots, and cast-iron rainwater goods on rendered eaves retaining cast-iron downpipes. Rendered, ruled and lined wall to front (south) elevation with rusticated rendered piers to ends; slate hung surface finish (remainder). Square-headed window openings with cut-granite sills, and concealed dressings framing one-over-one timber sash or replacement uPVC casement (top floor) windows. Street fronted with concrete footpath to front.

A townhouse representing an integral component of the domestic built heritage of Wexford with the architectural value of the composition suggested by such attributes as the compact rectilinear plan form; and the diminishing in scale of the openings on each floor producing a graduated visual impression. Having been well maintained, the elementary form and massing survive intact together with substantial quantities of the original fabric, both to the exterior and to the interior, including a partial slate hung surface finish widely regarded as an increasingly endangered hallmark of the architectural heritage of County Wexford: however, the piecemeal introduction of replacement fittings to the openings has not had a beneficial impact on the character or integrity of a townhouse making a pleasing visual statement in John Street Upper.