Melbourne House (A1 To A15)

Melbourne House is a town mansion built between 1771 and 1776, designed by Sir William Chambers and later altered by Henry Holland between 1802 and 1803. The building is constructed of brown brick with a slate roof, and stands three storeys high with a basement and dormered attic. The front facade has seven bays arranged in a rhythm of 2:3:2, with a prominent, pedimented central three bays. A stone porch with Tuscan columns is centrally positioned. The basement windows are topped with keystones and relate to a plat band at ground floor level. Ground floor windows are semi-circular, recessed, and feature keystones and moulded string courses creating an arcade-like effect. Upper floor windows are framed with architraves, with those on the piano nobile (main floor) having cornices and a central, pedimented window. A sill course runs across the first floor, topped by a crowning cornice and blocking course. Two shallow bows extend from the rear elevation. Inside, the original features include Chambers’ flying stone staircase with a wrought iron balustrade, and the right-hand rear room on the first floor retains a plaster ceiling to his design. The interior has otherwise been altered, converted to apartments by Holland and subsequent occupants. The building is a rare surviving example of a town mansion.