78 AND 79, LONG ACRE WC2

Nos 78 and 79 Long Acre are terrace houses with shops, built around 1840 as part of a development by the Mercers Company. The buildings are constructed of stock brick and topped with a slate roof. No 78 features a bowed corner treatment and was originally two separate houses. They rise three storeys with a dormered mansard roof and have three-window wide fronts.

The ground floor shop fronts have undergone alterations to their display windows and doors but still feature their original stucco framing pilasters with console brackets flanking the fascias and dentil cornices. The upper floors are fitted with recessed glazing bar sashes; the first-floor windows are adorned with stucco archivolt arches linked by an impost band, while the second-floor windows have flat gauged arches. A plain stucco plat band runs beneath the parapet, which is capped with coping. There is a stone plaque at the first floor displaying the Mercers Company's badge and an inscription. Additionally, there is a lead rainwater head and downpipe located at the corner return. The buildings have group value due to their prominent corner site with Drury Lane.