23 And 25, Micklegate

The building at 23 and 25 Micklegate comprises a hotel and house, now shops and offices, dating back to the early 19th century. It incorporates elements of an earlier building in number 25, and includes two 17th-century wings at the rear of number 23, which were remodelled around 1855, followed by later 19th-century shopfronts. The front of the building is stuccoed with a timber eaves band and a modillion eaves cornice. The rear wings are timber-framed with brick infill, and have pantile roofs with brick stacks. Number 23 has a three-storey, two-window front, while number 25 has a three-storey, one-window front. A continuous shopfront stretches across the ground floor, featuring panelled pilasters, moulded imposts, a dentilled cornice, and carved console brackets. The ground floor of number 23 has a glazed shop door in the centre, flanked by six-panel doors with narrow blocked overlights. The first floor of number 23 features a shallow bow window to the right with a 12-pane sash, and a 12-pane sash in raised architraves to the left. The second floor windows are similar in design. Number 25 has a shallow canted bay window on its first floor with a 12-pane centre sash and coarsely reeded mullions, and an unequal 9-pane sash on its second floor set within an architrave. The upper right part of the facade of number 23 is moulded into a shallow round-headed panel with moulded spandrels, creating a unified centrepiece to the combined fronts of both buildings. At the rear, projecting gables of the paired wings have 16-pane first-floor sashes, and unequal 9-pane second-floor sashes above a raised two-course band. To the left, a hipped roofed extension has 16-pane sashes, and a small pent-roofed wing is present. Inside, the ground floor of number 23 features a staircase with stick balusters, a moulded ramped-up handrail, and turned newels, extending to the second floor. Number 25 has a full-height closed string staircase with column on vase balusters and a moulded handrail. A massive spine beam and two chamfered transverse beams are exposed in the front part of number 23, and within the wings. The front room on the first floor of number 23 has a moulded cornice, interrupted by a partition, and a folding door frame with a fluted surround and angle roundels, partially blocked by a party wall with the front room of number 25. Visible features in the rear of number 25 include braced post and wall plates. On the second floor, two 18th-century firegrates survive in the rear left wing of number 23, and in the front room of number 25, which has a fasciated wooden surround. A plain fireplace with a basket grate is located in the front room of number 23. The rear wings retain wall studs and plates, along with posts with shaped heads and sole pieces. The roofs are underceiled. The building was formerly known as "The Grapes" inn in the early 19th century, and later as The Crown Hotel.