House Of St Barnabas

The House of St Barnabas is a Grade I listed corner terrace house located at No. 1 Greek Street in the City of Westminster, built around 1744-46 by Joseph Pearce. The interior features exquisite plasterwork and was fitted out for Richard Beckford, the brother of an Alderman, in 1754. The building is constructed of stock brick with a slate roof and has plain, somewhat old-fashioned elevations that harmonize with Soho Square. It stands three storeys tall, with a basement and a dormered mansard, and is five windows wide, with a four-window return facing Soho Square. The entrance, located in the second bay from the right, is framed by a stone architrave with consoles that support a cornice. The windows are recessed glazing bar sashes set in stucco reveals beneath flat gauged arches, with a blind window in the chimney breast bay and another to the left on the second floor facing Greek Street. The building features brick plat bands and sill bands, with the first-floor sill band made of stone, and a brick parapet with coping. Wrought iron area railings topped with urn finials and stone obelisks flank the steps leading to the doorway.

Inside, the House of St Barnabas showcases one of the finest surviving examples of mid-18th century Rococo decoration in London, with intricately carved woodwork and moulded plaster. Notable interior features include pedimented ornamental chimneypieces, carved pedimented doorcases, a stone staircase adorned with wrought iron openwork balusters, and plasterwork panels on the ceilings and cornices at the first-floor level. Additionally, a chapel was constructed in the former stable yard and facing Manette Street for the House of Charity by Joseph Clarke in 1862. This chapel is built in a bold Gothic style reminiscent of c.1300, featuring two bays, an east apse, and pairs of apsed chapels flanking the lofty narrow nave, complete with marble facings and mosaic work, as well as a large rose window in the west wall.