83 And 85, Harley Street W1

Nos. 83 and 85 Harley Street are terraced townhouses built around 1774-76 as part of the Portland Estate development by John White, in partnership with the plasterer Thomas Collins. The interior of No. 85 was designed by the plasterer John Utterton, who often worked with White. The houses are constructed of stock brick with channelled stucco ground floors and feature slate roofs. They rise four storeys with basements, and No. 85 has a dormered mansard roof.

The façades are three windows wide, with semicircular arched doorways on the left framed in vermiculated Coade stone with head keystones. The entrances have panelled doors, framed sidelights, and shallow recessed doorheads beneath patterned fanlights, arranged in a Venetian window style. The upper floors have recessed sash windows under flat gauged arches, with a plat band at the first floor level. The parapets are topped with copings, and there are continuous cast iron balconies with an anthemion pattern on the first floor. Wrought iron area railings with urn finials add to the exterior detail.

The interiors are notably elaborate for speculative houses of the 1770s in Harley Street, featuring a barrel vaulted ante-hall and top-lit stone geometrical staircases with scroll and lyre wrought iron balustrades and decorated skylight drums. The plasterwork includes delicate flutes, paterae, wreaths, and garlands, with mythological relief medallions framed by garlands over principal, Ionic columned or pilastered, inlaid marble chimneypieces. Additional features include mahogany doors and other fine details.