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, brown brick chimneystacks with terracotta pots, partially concealed behind parapet with cut granite coping. Shared cast-iron rainwater goods. Brown brick, laid in Flemish bond, to wall to front (south) elevation, rebuilt to first floor. Cut granite plinth course over rubble coursed limestone basement wall. Square-headed window openings having granite sills, rendered reveals and six-over-six pane, two-over-two pane and one-over-one pane timber sliding sash windows, those to basement with block-and-start rendered surrounds. Elliptical-headed door opening having moulded render surround. Timber doorcase comprising columns supporting carved projecting cornice. Plain fanlight. Timber panelled door with brass details. Nosed granite steps having remains of pair of cast-iron boot-scrapes and coal-hole cover to platform, flanked by cast-iron railings. Square-headed door opening with recent door to basement. Cast-iron gate having palmette motif to finials and matching railings on cut granite plinth wall enclosing basement area.

A well-proportioned house retaining historic features including a well-executed doorcase and timber sliding sash windows. 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.