41, Craven Street

This is a circa 1730 terraced town house with alterations dating to circa 1792. It was constructed as part of the Craven family’s 18th-century development of their Brewhouse estate, designed by Flitcroft. The building is of brown brick with red brick window dressings, a channelled stucco ground floor, and a slate roof. It comprises four storeys, including a top floor raised in circa 1792, and a basement. It has a closet wing plan, and is three windows wide.

The elliptical arched doorway is on the right side and is framed by plain stucco, featuring a recessed panelled door, a fanlight, and a 19th-century cornice on consoles. The windows are recessed sashes with intact glazing bars to the first floor, set within segmental red brick arches; this is the only house in Craven Street with this feature. A cornice-band runs above the ground-floor stucco and serves as the first-floor sill band, topped by a parapet with coping. First-floor windows have delicate cast iron balconettes. Original cast iron area railings with urn finials remain.

The interior is largely intact, with fielded and plain panelling and cornices. A pilastered archway connects the hall to the stairwell, leading to a dogleg turned baluster staircase of a standard design, similar to numbers 11 and 12 Craven Street.

Between 1951 and 1964, the building housed the India Club, a private members club associated with the India League, a key organization in the campaign for Indian independence. Prominent figures like Vengalil Krishnan Krishna Menon, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Lady Mountbatten were involved with the club. The club relocated to the Hotel Strand Continental in September 1964. In the 1990s, the building was adapted for use by the College of Optometrists, with listed building consent.