77-81, PORTLAND PLACE W1

Nos 77 to 81 Portland Place are a row of large terraced houses built around 1780 by James Adam as part of the speculative Portland Estate development with his brothers. The houses are constructed of stock brick with channelled stucco on the ground floors and feature slate roofs. The plain elevations are a simplified version of the nearby No 75 and are slightly recessed from it, matching the even-numbered Nos 92 to 96. The buildings rise four storeys with a basement and dormered mansards, each front being three windows wide.

To the left, there are semicircular arched doorways with double panelled doors, sidelights, and cornice doorheads beneath fanlights. The upper floors have recessed sashes set under flat gauged arches. A plat band runs above the ground floor stuccowork, and there is a crowning stucco cornice and blocking course. The first floor features cast iron balconies with Gothick patterns, and there are cast iron railings with plumbed spikes in the area. The interiors have not been inspected.