house

Three mid-terrace two-bay three-storey over basement former houses, built c.1800, now in use as flats. Pitched M-profile roof having continuous parapet to front (north) elevation. Cut granite capping. Rendered and brown brick chimneystacks. Red brick walls laid in Flemish bond, front of no.52 having recent red brick to second floor. Painted cut granite plinth course over rendered walls to basement level. Square-headed window openings having cut stone sills. Cast-iron balconettes to first floor windows of no.51. Replacement uPVC windows. Round-arched door openings. Painted masonry door surround to no.51 and 52 having columns supporting a frieze and cornice, plain surround to no.53, timber panelled doors. Plain fanlight to no.51, cobweb fanlight to no.52, recent fanlight to no.53. Concrete steps to entrance platforms having metal railings. Basement area enclosed from pavement by cut granite plinth wall with recent metal railings and gates. Recent external stairs provide access from pavement to basement areas. Cast-iron coal-hole covers set in granite paving to front.

This group of three houses makes an important contribution to the streetscape. Its proportions and details are shared with neighbouring properties on Blessington Street resulting in a coherent streetscape. Early fabric survives in the door surround to no.51. Blessington Street was laid out at the end of the eighteenth century. It terminates to the west end at Blessington Street Basin, constructed in 1810 as a city reservoir supplied from the nearby canal, it is now a public park.