1-15, Connaught Square W2

A terrace of fifteen houses forming the east side of Connaught Square, built around 1828-30, likely by George Gutch. The houses are constructed of brown brick with channelled stucco to the ground floors, and have concealed slate roofs. They are four storeys high, with basements, and have two and three window frontages. The end houses and the central three are slightly projected. The entrances are on the right, with semicircular arched doorways featuring panelled doors set within pilastered jambs, consoles above the doors, and fanlights. Number 1 has inset Greek Doric columns to its doorway, while Number 15 has a stucco Corinthian columned porch to its return on Connaught Street. The windows are recessed sash windows with glazing bars, set under flat, gauged arches. A stucco plat band runs over the ground floor and at third floor level, topped by a crowning cornice and blocking course. First floor windows are complemented by geometric patterned cast iron balconies, and the property is fronted by cast iron area railings with urn finials. Number 1 has a three-bay south return to Seymour Street, with a recessed central bay. The ground floor windows of Number 1 are segmental arched, set within similarly arched panels; the first floor outer windows have shallow stucco pediments on consoles. Number 15 has semicircular arched ground floor windows with similar arched panels to its four-bay return to Connaught Street. The left-hand bay of Number 15 is recessed on the upper floors and features tripartite, wooden, panelled pilaster sashes. A plaque from the Greater London Council records that the ballet dancer Marie Taglioni resided at Number 14 between 1875 and 1876. Connaught Square is the earliest part of the Tyburnia development, originally planned in 1827 by S.P. Cockerell for the Bishop of London’s Estate, but then laid out to a modified plan by Cockerell’s successor, George Gutch.