house

Attached three-bay four-storey former townhouse, built c. 1810, as a pair with no.102 to the east. Replacement shopfront inserted to ground floor. Now in use as restaurant with apartments above. Irregular M-profile pitched roof, hipped to south, hidden behind brick parapet with granite coping, having projecting rendered chimneystack with lipped yellow clay pots to rear (north) elevation. Brown brick walls laid in Flemish bond with some header courses, rendered walls to rear (north) elevation. Vertical iron tie-beams to front elevation and cruciform pattress plates to rear wall. Square-headed window openings with masonry sills, having multi-paned sliding timber sashes; six-over-six to second floor, late-nineteenth century two-over-two to first floor and replacement three-over-three to third floor. Round-headed opening to upper rear, having timber window with spoked head (partially visible) to east-bay and uPVC casement to west-bay. Recent timber shopfront to ground floor surmounted by stepped lead-lined cornice and having separate upper floor access door to east-end. Street fronted on north side of Leeson Street Lower.

Although this former townhouse has lost some original fabric, the well-balanced Georgian proportions and restrained façade make a positive contribution to the architectural character of the streetscape. The timber sliding sash windows, stone sills and mellow brick are among its noteworthy historic features. Leeson Street forms part of an ancient routeway, Suesey Street, leading from the city towards Donnybrook. Located within the Fitzwilliam Estate, which covered much of the south-east of the city, the street was named after Joseph Leeson, 1st Earl of Milltown. Plots were leased for development in the mid-eighteenth century but remained largely undeveloped until the late 1780s, and were completed by 1836.