house

Terraced two-bay three-storey former house over basement, built c.1810. M-profile pitched artificial slate roof, hipped to east, hidden behind brick parapet with granite coping. Rendered brick chimneystack to front (south) and brick angled chimneystack abutting rear elevation. Brown brick walls laid in Flemish bond with granite plinth over ruled-and-lined cement rendered walls to basement. Square-headed openings with brick voussoirs, rendered reveals, granite sills and three-over-three and six-over-six windows. Wrought-iron balconettes to first floor. Round-headed opening with brick voussoirs, panelled timber door, panelled pilasters supporting fluted cornice and frieze and coved surround to fanlight. Granite platform with cast-iron bootscrape and wrought-iron railings on cement rendered granite plinth to east. Wrought-iron and mild steel railings on rendered granite plinth to basement area.

Synnott Place was part of the residential development undertaken by Gardiner family in the northeastern sector of the city. It retains a terrace of fine three-storey and four-storey houses over basements, forming a pocket of grand architectural character at the edge of the city. It was part of a scheme of streets leading to a proposed circus on the site of the present Mater Hospital. The street was laid out in the 1790s as the westward continuation of Gardiner Street and the houses are typically Georgian in character, although some later infill is evident. The façade of No.12 is classically restrained with ornamentation limited to an elaborate doorcase and balconettes. The unusual brick angled chimneystack is a common feature in the area around Dorset Street.