8 and 9, Beach Lawn

This is a pair of large terraced houses, numbers 8 and 9 Beach Lawn, built in the mid to later 19th century as part of a row of 15 houses with a varied but harmonious design. The houses are constructed of white-painted stucco with slate roofs and stuccoed chimneys, and feature a cast-iron verandah. They are built in an Italianate style, with a double-depth plan; number 8 has a single front, and number 9 has a double front. The houses are two-and-a-half storeys high, with a 1:2+2 window arrangement and a strongly emphasized three-bay composition, where the centre and left bays project forwards, and the right and left have open-pedimental gables. A first-floor string course and bracketed eaves and gables are present. Square-headed doorways are located to the right at number 8 and in the centre at number 9, both with pilasters and overlights; the doorway at number 9 is wider, with side windows. The gabled left portion of each house has a large pilastered canted bay window. Above this bay, number 8 has a tripartite window with a raised architrave including a central pediment on consoles, and number 9 has a canted upper stage with a prominent cornice. At attic level, a segmental-headed window with a keyed shouldered architrave is visible. To the right of the doorway at number 9, there is a tripartite window; above, number 8 has a window with a shaped and shouldered architrave and number 9 has two windows with dentilled cornices on consoles. The window to the right on number 9 has divided half-glazed doors leading to a balcony. A pair of segmental-pedimented dormers are also present. Tall, corniced, multiple-flue chimneys are located to the left of each house. An attractive cast-iron verandah extends around the entire building, featuring geometric open-work standards with slender foliated brackets to a pierced frieze. The central bay's verandah section carries a balcony with delicate wrought-iron railings, while the remainder is glazed. The interiors have not been inspected. The houses adjoin numbers 3-7 to the right and number 10 to the left. Together with the listed buildings in Adelaide Terrace, Bath Street, Marine Crescent and Marine Terrace, they form a group within the Waterloo Conservation Area of Crosby.