house

Pair of terraced two-bay two-storey over raised basement houses, built c.1870, adjoined neighbouring terraces on both sides. Now in use as flats. Pitched M-profile slate roof having rear pitch hipped to party-line. Continuous rendered parapet to front (south-east) having decorative dentillated cornice. Red brick walls to front laid in Flemish Bond having cut granite plinth course over rendered walls to basement level. Square-headed window openings having rendered surrounds. One-over-one pane timber sash windows to no.105. Replacement uPVC windows to no.103. Square-headed door openings, each having painted rendered surround with decorative consoles. Timber panelled doors. Plain fanlight. Dog-leg flights of cut granite steps with nosings to shared entrance platform having granite capped retaining walls with cast-iron railings. Set back from road having front gardens enclosed by granite plinth wall with cast-iron railings and pedestrian gates.

This pair with a substantially raised entrance level present an elegant elevation suited to the broad character of the tree-lined North Circular Road. The shared central entrance platform and decorative render details give the pair a unified appearance. The door surrounds and front garden boundaries survive in good condition. Historic maps show the terrace named as Ben Lomond, while Thom's Directory of 1870 lists just two houses as Ben Lomond. The North Circular Road was laid out in the 1780s to create convenient approaches to the city. It developed slowly over the following century with the far west and east ends developing last.