56 and 58, Portland Place W1

Nos. 56 and 58 Portland Place are large terraced townhouses built between 1776 and around 1780 by James Adam, along with his brothers and John Elwes, as part of a speculative development on a lease from the Portland Estate. The houses are constructed of stock brick with channelled stucco on the ground floors and feature slate roofs. They are designed with astylar elevations and are part of a symmetrical block that includes Nos. 34 to 52. The buildings rise four storeys, including an added attic storey, with No. 56 featuring a dormered mansard roof. Each house has a three-window wide front and semicircular arched doorways on either side, with double panelled doors flanked by columned sidelights, cornice doorheads, and fanlights. Notably, No. 56 retains an original delicate radial swag pattern in its fanlight. The upper floors have recessed sash windows under flat gauged arches, and a plat band finishes the ground floor stuccowork. There are moulded stucco bands over the first floor and a main entablature over the second floor, along with an attic cornice and blocking course. Continuous early 19th-century cast iron balconies adorn the first floor, and the area railings are topped with cast iron urn finials. Inside, No. 56 retains several fine Adam interior features, including a stone geometrical staircase with a wrought iron balustrade, delicate plasterwork, and inlaid marble chimneypieces.