36, Hertford Street

TQ 2880 SE HERTFORD STREET (north side) 1900-/80/10096 no. 36

II

Large corner townhouse c. 1765 with alterations c.1823. Three storeys plus attic and basement, three bays wide onto Hertford Street ; extends back six bays into Seymour Place. Brick faced with stucco, channelled on the gound floor. Blind window openings in first two bays of Stanhope Row and in the middle bay on the top storey. All windows have been replaced. Cast iron balconies and area railings; fine cast iron boot scraper on patterned marble step. Sloping mansard roof INTERIOR. Plan: entrance hall with simple cornice leads to central staircase compartment which rises through all floors. Lit by large, round-headed windows. Stone cantilevered staircase with original wrought iron 'S' scroll balustrade to first floor level; simple stick balusters to the top. Moulded and ramped wooden handrail. Stairwell lined with fine plaster roundels and ovals depicting scenes from Classical mythology and framed by festoons. This may be the work of Francis Engleheart, a noted plasterer working in other houses in Hertford Street at this time. The principal rooms of interest are in the front and side of the staircase; there is less original fabric to the rear. Plain rooms in the attic; simple cornices in rooms on the the second floor. First floor room: main south-facing room and the adjacent west-facing room have a deeply carved modillion cornice and carved door surrounds. The ground floor rooms have simpler cornices and complete beaded and fielded dado panelling; one has a fine Rococco marble fire surround but this may not be original. The front room on the ground floor has an elaborate plaster cornice below the ceiling cove and a C17-style door surround ; these are probably C19 or C20 additions but of interest . Basement area refurbished; vaults survive under the basement steps. HISTORY: The house was the home of Edward Bulwer Lytton (1803-73), the writer, who lived there 1829-33 and 1839-40. His son, the future Viscount Lytton, Viceroy of India, was born here in 1831.

Listing NGR: TQ2856780158