52-59, MONTAGU SQUARE W1

A row of terraced town houses built around 1810-11, by J.T. Parkinson as part of the Montagu-Bryanston Square development for the Portman Estate. The houses are constructed of stock brick with channelled stucco to the ground floor, and have concealed slate roofs. They are five storeys high with basements, except for numbers 55 and 56, which are four storeys and have basements. The fronts are three windows wide. There are semicircular arched doorways to the right, with panelled doors in pilaster jambs; number 52 has Greek Doric columns, and all have fanlights. Numbers 52, 54, 57 and 59 have two-window segmental bows on the ground floor, which rise to the first floor on numbers 58 and 59, and to the second floor on number 57. The second floor of number 57 has Ionic columns. Numbers 52 and 54 have mid-19th century, two-storey stucco canted bays above the segmental bows, finished with cornices and blocking courses. The upper floors have recessed sash windows beneath flat gauged arches. There’s a plat band finishing the ground floor stucco work, and a stucco sill band to the fourth floors of all houses except 55 and 56, which have a stone-coped parapet. Crowning stucco cornices and a blocking course finish the rest of the facades. A continuous cast iron balcony with a geometric pattern runs along the first floor. Cast iron area railings have acorn or pineapple finials.