house

Terraced two-bay three-storey former house, built c. 1895 one of terrace of four, having canted-bay window to ground floor of front (north) elevation, and single single-storey return to rear with enclosed yard. Now in use as apartments. M-profile pitched slate roof with angled black ridge tiles, red brick chimneystacks with yellow clay pots to west party wall, replacement uPVC gutter supported on cogged yellow and black brick eaves course. Red brick walling, laid in Flemish bond, over granite plinth course, and painted cement render to ground floor sill level. Camber-arch window openings with polychrome (red, yellow and black) brick voussoirs, generally reclaimed stone sills, continuous granite sill to canted-bay, and replacement uPVC windows. Entrance recessed within round-headed integral porch with plain reveals, polychrome brick voussoirs; porch opening now glazed with uPVC door; square-headed six-panel timber entrance door (top three panels glazed) with sidelights and two-light transom, approached by granite step with cast-iron boot-scrape. Set back behind front garden with red and black tiled path, bounded to front by cast-iron railings with decorative finials on cut granite plinth.

This well-built house is part of a terrace of four late nineteenth-century houses on the south side of St. Alphonsus Road Lower. Taller than other terraces on the road, the group is a dominant feature of the streetscape. Its attractive frontage is ornamented with lively yellow and black voussoirs and high-quality gauged brick detailing, such as the cogged eaves course. St. Alphonsus Road was laid out in the late nineteenth century as part of the suburban expansion of the Drumcondra area. The road developed from the east, eventually connecting to Iona Road which was set out in the early twentieth century. It is highly representative of the type of housing that characterizes the area, driven by speculative builders who often constructed small groups of terrace houses, resulting in subtle variety of materials and detailing.