Devere House

Devere House, dated 1871, was built as an American and Chinese export warehouse. Designed by Lockwood and Mawson, it marks a significant contribution to the area, which is otherwise characterised by the work of Eli Milnes. The building forms a corner block with Aked Street, and includes No 1 Aked Street. It is a grand commercial palazzo with richly modelled and carefully proportioned elevations, constructed from tall dressed sandstone “brick” with ashlar dressings across five graded storeys. There are seven bays facing Vicar Lane, one to the splayed corner, and two bays to Aked Street, with No 1 extending the block in a simpler style.

The ground floor is arcaded, with piers having battered, moulded bases featuring vermiculated courses, Greek key bands, and weathered capping string, continuing as an impost level. Vermiculated console keystones are present. Blind basement windows are topped with console keys, and have window sills above. A console bracket cornice above the ground floor serves as a sill course to the first floor, which is treated as a piano nobile. The closely spaced windows have blind baluster panels beneath the sills and are flanked by panelled, foliate-capped pilasters, supporting archivolt arches, carved spandrels, and modillioned pediments. A dentilled sill course runs along the second floor, with arcaded windows linked by an acanthus leaf impost string and carved tympani. Similar detailing is found on the third floor, incorporating incised roundels to the spandrels. The fourth-floor windows have segmental arched eared architrave surrounds. Carved console brackets, supporting a projecting eaves cornice, run along the building.

An elaborately decorated office entrance is located on the corner, with flanking panels carved with vine leaves surmounted by massive consoles supporting a large segmental pediment with carved scrollwork. This surround contains the entrance door, flanked by Corinthian columns, large vermiculated voussoirs to a blind tympanum containing a boldly carved eagle, with festoons carried across from the consoles of the surround. A waggonway is located within the wider end bay of the ground floor arcade. The blind basement windows are protected by wrought iron grilles featuring a wheel and scroll pattern.

Inside, behind the corner entrance is an octagonal stairwell with moulded soffits to the treads, cast iron columnar banisters, and a swept and ramped handrail.