Number 23 Row Lyon House

This is a late 17th or early 18th century town house, now used as offices, situated on Watergate Street in Chester. It is believed to occupy the site of a former detached kitchen relating to the neighbouring Leche House (number 17), with which it is connected by a roofed passage.

The exterior is constructed of brown brick in an irregular bond, topped by a double-depth grey slate roof. The three-storey, double-fronted east facade features an inserted six-panel door set within a camber-arched doorcase, originally under a damaged stone lintel carved with a rose and foliage. It has renewed casement windows with three panes to each of the lower two floors and a 24-pane horizontally sliding sash on the third floor. A cambered brick arch marks a blocked opening to the left of the door, with a smaller inserted casement above. A tall central staircase window, with 44 panes, has a segmental-arched brick head, incorporating a three-course brick band at both the first and second floor levels. The left end of the building has four-pane sashes, while the right end features a small projecting wing and coped gables. The rear elevation has a six-panel door within a panelled doorcase and a flat, moulded lead hood; a 16-pane near-flush sash to the left and an inserted casement to the right. Upper floors have casements of three two-pane lights, set within segmental brick arches. A cast-iron Gothick window is located at the rear of the wing.

The interior follows a square plan with four rooms on each of the three storeys, originally arranged around a central passage. The north-west room on the first floor retains a panelled dado and altered features of a former corner fireplace. A rehung oak door with eight panels, featuring heart-shaped apertures in the upper panels, leads to the north-east room, which contains a stop-chamfered oak beam running parallel to the front of the house, along with a fielded panel door to the stair hall. The softwood dogleg staircase has an octagonal newel, two turned balusters per step, and a moulded handrail. A round-arched opening provides access from the north-west room to the stairwell. The south-east room has a door with six margin panels and a stop-chamfered oak beam. The south-west room features a door with six fielded panels and panelled embrasures to the sashes in the south wall, with two carved panels positioned beneath the western window, each depicting a putto and swags. Second-floor rooms now have replaced four-panel doors, while the north-east and south-east rooms retain a similar stop-chamfered oak beam, although the south-east beam is hidden behind a false ceiling in the now-utilised kitchen and toilet area. The third storey has no features of particular interest. The building was previously incorrectly listed at street level.