Montagu House And Montagu Lodge

MONTAGU HOUSE AND MONTAGU LODGE

A townhouse built in the mid-18th century and extended in the late 18th, early 19th and mid-19th centuries, later divided into two separate dwellings in 1988.

Montagu House is constructed of red brick with a pantile roof covering the front western range and slate covering the rear eastern range. The rear bowed extension is built of gault brick. Montagu Lodge is of red brick with a pantile roof. The building faces west towards Northgate with a bowed garden elevation to the rear.

The mid-18th century house is five bays wide with two storeys, attics and a basement. The hipped roof of the western range carries pantile tiles to the majority with slate to its rear slope, two attic dormers to front and rear slopes, and substantial red brick chimneystacks at its north and south ends. The walls are red brick laid in Flemish bond with a high red-brick parapet and chamfered rusticated brick quoins to the corners. The central three bays break forward slightly and are topped by a triangular pediment to the parapet, flanked by two blocked window openings whose keystones survive. Both the pediment and first floor have modillion cornices. The ground and first floor windows contain six-over-six timber sash windows with stone sills, set beneath flat gauged-brick arches with central triple keystones. The central bay formerly held a door opening, blocked and replaced by a window, most likely in the early 19th century. Four cellar window openings with triple keystones survive in the painted brick plinth, though partially obscured by the rise in pavement level. A red-brick screen wall extends south of the house, attached to Oswald House, and contains an early-19th-century door surround with six-panelled door to the courtyard. The side courtyard elevation shows evidence of two phases of extension in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. An early-19th-century porch occupies the corner between these phases, featuring a flat-roofed canopy on slender classical columns, double-leaf half-glazed doors, and an oblong fanlight bearing the Montagu coat of arms. The rear eastern range has a hipped slate roof with gault-brick chimneystacks and red-brick walls in Flemish bond. A full-height three-bay bowed extension to the garden, constructed of gault brick around 1822, extends the rear elevation.

Montagu Lodge was constructed in 1860 as a dining room to Montagu House. It has a pitched pantile roof and red brick walls in Flemish bond with a plain modillion cornice imitating that of the mid-18th-century house to its south. Two dormer windows were added to the front slope in the late 20th century, the northern dormer replacing a late-19th-century predecessor. The original dining room had two tall round-arched window surrounds containing flat-arched sash windows; the northern one survives. The southern window surround was blocked and replaced in the late 19th century by a six-panelled door with fanlight and steps. A sash window was introduced to the right of the door around 1930. A single-storey projection leans against Montagu House to the south. Four windows were introduced under the roof in the late 20th century when stairs and a mezzanine level were installed. A modern single-storey flat-roofed rear extension was under construction as of May 2021.

The interior of Montagu House is accessed via an early-19th-century entrance hall with a plain 19th-century stair. The morning room and drawing room retain fine early-19th-century cornicing, wall panelling and fireplaces. The morning room fireplace retains a carved wood mantelpiece, stove and marble hearth. The dining room retains a late-18th-century Adams-style fire surround enriched with plaster decoration. The bowed drawing room on the first floor has a richly carved and painted wood ceiling with carved and gilt cornice, and retains a white marble mantelpiece with marble hearth and kerb. Access to the interior was limited at the time of survey in May 2021.

The interior of Montagu Lodge was substantially altered in the late 19th century when adapted for use as a service range, with partition walls inserted to create a kitchen, scullery, larder and store rooms. When this part became a separate dwelling in 1988, it was extensively altered under planning permission and listed building consent, with a lavatory, bathroom, stairs, mezzanine and first floor introduced. The only original interior features of note to survive are one of the interior window surrounds with internal shutters and approximately half of the plaster cornice decoration.