98 King Street, Knutsford

98 King Street, Knutsford is a mid-18th century town house, constructed of red clamp brick with a stone plinth and sills to the front elevation. It features stone coped gables and a Welsh slate roof. The building underwent significant alterations in the late 20th century, including the addition of a rear extension that transformed the original rectangular plan into an overall T-plan shape.

The four-bay, three-storey house sits on a chamfered limestone plinth and is articulated by two continuous brick string courses that wrap around all four elevations, with painted bands visible to the front and around the south-east corner. The front and rear elevations display moulded timber dentil eaves cornices, with more heavily moulded projecting corner pieces to the north-east and south-east corners.

The main front elevation features a six-panelled oak front door with arched heads, positioned in the second bay and approached by a Yorkstone doorstep raised on red bricks. The door-case incorporates reeded pilasters, a projecting entablature, and a plain oblong fanlight with two vertical ribs. The ground and first floors of the main elevation, together with the south-east corner of the south gable, are lit by flush-framed twelve-pane sash windows with stone sills, acanthus-decorated keystones and flat-arched gauged brick heads. The second-floor windows are flush-framed six-pane sash windows with plain flat brick arches. The remaining elevations feature four-pane sash windows of varying sizes, with brick sills and a mixture of flat and cambered brick lintels. A single twenty-pane fixed casement has been inserted into the ground floor of the south gable, and patching in the brickwork indicates the former position of an attic window. The gables carry stone coping with projecting kneelers. The roof is pierced by two brick chimney stacks and is drained by a central cast-iron down pipe to the front and a plastic down pipe to the rear. A wrought-iron bar grille set in a stone surround provides access to a basement window and coal chute against the first bay of the south-east elevation. A circular green heritage plaque is attached to the wall at the south-east corner.

The entrance hall and staircase occupy the second bay, spanning the full width of the building. The hall features later 20th century timber parquet flooring, contemporary and repaired picture rails, moulded plaster cornices, and oak dado panelling with small panels. All doors leading from the hall have moulded architraves and panelled door reveals. A variety of skirting boards throughout the house—including lambs tongue, ogee and torus profiles—are present, though it is unclear whether these are primary or secondary features.

The staircase has dado panelling and is flanked by a section of 18th century oak panelled walling with a contemporary six-panel door providing access to the basement. The ground floor contains four rooms, two on either side of the entrance hall, separated by an axial spine wall that rises through the house to roof level. The south-east room retains mid-18th century painted panelling, classically divided with dado, tall panels and moulded cornice, with a small decorative niche to one side of the chimney breast that features an early Gothic Revival-style fire surround. The north-east room has late 20th century oak dado panelling, picture rails and moulded plaster cornices, together with a late Gothic Revival-style orange marble fireplace. Windows throughout have panelled timber reveals and moulded architraves. The rear ground-floor rooms feature later 20th century plaster cornices with minimal decorative detail; the south-west room has been reduced in width by a passageway providing access to two ground-floor offices within the late 20th century extension.

The mid-18th century oak half-landing dog-leg staircase comprises four flights with moulded strings, turned balusters, and substantial moulded handrails that curve up to square-section panelled newel posts with moulded square caps. The stair treads are all later 20th century replacements. The first and second-floor newel posts have moulded pendants. Each floor landing gives access to five rooms, with a small room positioned above the entrance hall. All first and second-floor rooms feature narrow moulded architraves to windows.

The south-east first-floor room displays late 20th century oak panelled walls extending from floor to ceiling, matching timber fire surround, and a late-Victorian-style blacked cast-iron fireplace; the east-wall panelling rises only to dado level. The north-east room remains relatively unadorned, retaining a plain painted mid-19th century chamfered stone fire surround with a blacked open-fret cast-iron fireplace and basket. The south-west room features modern oak dado panelling, alcove bookshelves, parquet flooring and a late 20th century decorative mid-19th century-style fireplace inserted into a false chimney in the east wall. The remaining two rooms are unadorned except for plaster cornices; the north-west room has been reduced in depth by a passageway to the extension. The five second-floor rooms follow the same arrangement as those below, are built into the roof slope with sloping ceilings, and are unadorned. The interior of the roof was not inspected.

A length of red clamp brick garden wall with chamfered brick plinth and flat coping stones is attached to the south gable end of the house, curving up to the height of the first-floor string course band where it meets the house.

The late 20th century extension to the rear elevation is not of special architectural or historic interest and is excluded from listing protection.