13, White Friars

This is a three-storey town house, likely dating from the 18th century with early 19th-century alterations, although the cellars indicate a probable late medieval origin. It is situated in Chester City. The front is constructed of brown brick in a Flemish bond pattern, topped with a grey slate roof running parallel to the street.

The exterior presents a symmetrical three-window facade. It has a rendered plinth, and recessed sash windows with painted stone sills and wedge lintels. A pair of stone steps lead to the front door, which is of four raised, cross-shaped panels above two flush panels, set within a timber frame with fluted pilasters and a pediment. A radial-bar overlight sits above the door. The first floor has two 16-pane sash windows to either side of the door. The second floor has three 16-pane sashes, and the third floor has three narrower 12-pane sashes. A lead rainwater head and round pipe are visible, along with a painted stone cornice. A chimney is located on the west gable. The rear elevation has been altered and features a 24-pane stair window and various sash windows.

The cellars contain a quarry-tile floor and remnants of late medieval coursed sandstone masonry within walls largely built of 18th-century brick. They retain chamfered oak stop-chamfered spine beams with run-out stops, flat oak joists (some chamfered), and a wooden stair. The hall includes a round archway with a panelled intrados leading to the stair. Most doors are framed by fluted architraves, ornamented with carved lions' heads in the corners.

The front west room has a fluted dado rail, a simple fireplace, a cross-beam with pecked panels, a frieze, cornice, and a basket-arched opening to the rear room. The rear room has a Regency fireplace with carved pilasters and a frieze, a simple dado rail, and panelled cheeks around a recessed window with sub-panels and architrave; it also has a cornice. A door has been removed from the front west room. The rear west room has a five-panel door. The front east room has a six-panel door and a chamfered cross-beam.

The open-string dogleg stair has panelling beneath the first flight, shaped brackets, a curtail step, a cruciform newel, and cast-iron balusters with intersecting serpentine rods arranged around a central concave lozenge in each panel. A wreathed and swept mahogany handrail with a contrasting hardwood strip runs along the stair.

The second-storey front room features a six-panel door, sub-panels to the windows, a simple fireplace, and a good three-panel plaster ceiling with panelled longitudinal beams and moulded cornices with vine-and-grape motifs. A round arch leads from the stair to the second-storey landing. A small room adjacent to the stair has sub-panels to the window and a chamfered cross-beam. The rear east room has a corner fireplace, while the rear west room has a corner fireplace in a timber surround, a six-panel door, a panelled cross-beam, frieze and cornice.

The third storey has two-panel doors. A front room has a panelled ceiling with cornices and a two-panel door connects the front rooms. The rear east room has a corner breast and a chamfered cross-beam; the rear west room has a corner breast and chamfered cross-beam.