Arden House And Attached Railings

Arden House and attached railings comprise three houses, now used as a residential home, built around 1828-1832, with later additions and alterations. The houses are constructed of pinkish-brown brick with painted stucco facades, covered by a Welsh slate roof. Cast-iron railings and a verandah are also present.

The three-storey houses have a basement and attics to the gables, presenting seven first-floor windows, with the central three projecting. A two-storey, single-entrance bay is recessed on either side. The first floor features ten-pane French windows within tooled, eared architraves. The second floor has six-over-six sash windows in similar architraves with horns. A modillion cornice is topped by a blocking course that rises to a central upshot featuring an indented plaque with an anthemion frieze; a cornice is present at the centre, with copings to the sides.

The ground floor has central and end entrances. The central entrance includes three steps leading to a part-glazed, four-panel door with margin-lights and an elliptical overlight featuring gothic glazing, set within a distyle Doric porch with engaged pilasters, a frieze, a dentil cornice, and a blocking course. Side entrances consist of a three-panel door to the left and a four-panel, part-glazed door to the right, both backed by Doric screens that adjoin numbers 17 and 21 on either side. Other ground floor windows consist of four six-over-six and two two-over-two sashes, all with eared architraves, sills, and horns, alongside inserted entrances. Basement windows are a mix of three-over-six sashes and casements. Roof stacks are also present. A verandah with a heart-and-anthemion motif and a tent roof extends across the first floor.

Inside, the central entrance hall features a modillion cornice and an arch leading to a rear hall. Reception rooms have decorative cornices, and the staircase on the right side has turned balusters.

Subsidiary features include railings along the sides of the steps and to the area, featuring anthemion finials.

Arden House was constructed as part of a complete square of stucco terraces designed by P.F. Robinson, architect, of Brook Street, Mayfair, around 1828. The houses were completed around 1832, and the gardens within the square were planted with trees in May 1830. Numbers 11 to 21 form a notable architectural grouping.