house — Merrion Square

Attached three-bay four-storey former house over basement, built c. 1790, with flat-roofed extension to north end of rear and pitched roof two-storey block and fire escape to south. Now in use as offices. Pitched slate roof to front, behind granite eaves cornice, and with two roofs to rear, north being hipped and perpendicular to front elevation and south being hipped and parallel to front elevation and curving over rear bow. Rendered chimneystacks with clay pots, and cast-iron rainwater goods to party walls. Flemish bond brown brick walls on painted granite plinth course over painted rendered basement walling. Square-headed window openings, diminishing in height to upper floors, having raised rendered reveals and painted granite sills, and with carved granite block-and-start surrounds to basement. Six-over-six pane timber sliding sash windows to front elevation, except for two-over-two pane to basement. Ornate cast-iron balcony to full-width of first floor, and wrought-iron grilles to basement. Round-headed principal doorway with moulded rendered surround, red marble and granite Doric columns and respond pilasters with plain frieze and cornice, fanlight with decorative wrought-ironwork to interior, and eleven-panel timber door with brass furniture. Granite platform with remnants of cast-iron boot-scrapes and six bull-nosed granite steps. Decorative cast-iron railings on moulded granite plinth enclosing basement area. Entrance hall has polychrome tiled floor, deep dentillated plasterwork cornice, relief plaster ceiling rose, square-headed door openings with panelled architraves and timber cornice on scrolled brackets; stairs hall has timber open-string staircase with turned timber balusters and mahogany handrail; ground floor rear room has panelling below picture rail, deep timber skirting, chimneybreast with marble chimneypiece to south wall and square-headed door openings with timber panelled architrave and cornices on scrolled brackets, and neo-Classical plasterwork ceiling with rose; vestibule has polychrome tiled floor, arcading to side walls with engaged columns and decorative archivolts, screen to stairs having square-headed doorway flanked by engaged Corinthian columns on high plinths, with stained-glass sidelights flanking columns and stained-glass overlight to doorway, and compartmental plasterwork ceiling with deep ornate cornices and lantern. carparking to rear of plot.