4, College Place

House, dated 1824

Number 4 College Place is a two-storey sandstone house built in 1824, part of a non-uniform terrace. It has a central staircase plan with a symmetrical, double-fronted north-facing elevation and is single pile in depth.

Exterior

The front elevation faces north and is built of regular coursed squared sandstone with a Welsh slate roof and two brick stacks at the gable ends, the lower courses made of hand-made bricks. The ground floor has eight over eight hornless sash windows with surviving original glazing, flat stone lintels, projecting sills and alternate block jambs. The central front door has six beaded panels and a rectangular overlight, decorated with a late 19th-century ornamental grill, set in a plain raised surround. An inset door scraper and bell pull are positioned on the right side of the door.

The rear elevation faces south and appears as three storeys, as the half basement forms the ground floor while the front elevation's ground floor becomes the first floor. This elevation is built of irregularly coursed rubble (probably previously rendered) with quoins and a pantiled roof. The basement has three over three hornless sash windows. Above these are eight over eight horned sash windows, with two over two sashes on the top floor. Windows above the basement have concrete lintels and rendered surrounds. The central upper stair window is partially blocked by a smaller sash window. The back door is modern.

Interior

The interior retains a good range of period features. A near-complete set of six-panelled doors survives throughout, and the original floorboards remain largely intact. The staircase is original, comprising an open string stair without decorative brackets and a wreathed and ramped handrail set on stick balusters. The ornate moulded newel post at the foot of the stairs is possibly a later 19th-century replacement of a cluster of balusters rising from a curtail step. The half landing has been partitioned to form a bathroom.

The reception rooms on the ground floor retain their cornicing, window shutters and other 19th-century joinery. The eastern reception room contains an oversized fireplace surround with ornately carved timber, said to have come from Haggerston Castle. Both bedrooms retain fireplaces (late Victorian or early 20th-century replacements) and six-panelled cupboard doors. The western basement room retains an early 19th-century parlour fireplace surround and mantelpiece of original dimensions, suggesting they may be in their original position rather than relocated.

The roof structure is largely original, with a king post truss supporting a ridge beam and pegged purlins.

Subsidiaries and Setting

A small brick privy is attached to the rear. The garden is enclosed by rubble stone walls and includes an outbuilding range, mostly of 20th-century date, although the southern stone-built garage may be the 19th-century outbuilding shown on early maps.

This house is designated for its date as an unextended house predating the 1840s with a good range of period features; its well-composed, balanced and architecturally polite front elevation which is little altered; and the special interest of its largely unaltered interior plan form, which retains its original staircase and much joinery.