house

End-of-terrace two-bay two-storey red brick house, c.1890, with single-bay two-storey canted bay window to left (north-west) and single-bay two-storey rubble stone lower return to rear to north-east. Refenestrated, c.1985. One of a group of four. Gable-ended roofs with slate (half-octagonal to canted bay window). Red clay ridge tiles. Red brick chimney stacks. Cast-iron rainwater goods on yellow brick eaves course. Red brick Flemish bond wall to front (south-west) elevation. Rendered wall to side elevation to north-west. Unpainted. Rubble stone walls to return. Square-headed window openings (including to canted bay window). Stone sills. Replacement aluminium casement windows, c.1985. Timber pilaster doorcase with moulded entablature. Replacement timber panelled door, c.1980. Overlight. Set back from road in own grounds. Lawns and concrete path to forecourt. Section of cast-iron railings to forecourt with finials and cast-iron gate.

This is a fine and well-maintained house that retains most of its original form and character. Built as one of a terrace of four identical houses, the house is of social and historic interest, representing the middle-size dwellings of the prosperous merchant class in Naas in the late nineteenth century. The house also represents the early development of the outskirts of the town. The house is constructed of early mass-produced red brick, with side and rear elevations of less refined materials, including render and rubble stone. Refenestrated in the late twentieth century, the replacement glazing does not complement the original design and produces a blank void quality to the openings – the re-instatement of timber fenestration, using the extant original models to south-east as a reference point, would restore a more accurate representation of the original appearance of the house. The house, together with the remaining houses in the terrace (11814062 - 4/KD-19-14-62 - 64), forms an attractive feature on the streetscape of Bladder Lane and is bounded on the side of the road by a section of decorative railings, which are a fine example of early surviving cast-iron work.