Romney (Stubbs) House, Millbank Estate

Romney (Stubbs) House is a block of flats built in 1897-1902 as part of the Millbank Estate, one of the first and most significant housing estates developed by the London County Council. The estate was designed by the LCC Architects' Department, under Owen Fleming and particularly R. Minton Taylor, who likely designed the estate layout radiating from a central rectangular public garden. The building is of red brick with stone and rendered dressings, and tiled roofs. It exemplifies a humane, Arts and Crafts socialist housing design, inspired by the work of Webb, Lethaby, and Smith and Brewer, incorporating "Queen Anne" features and executed to a high standard. The block flanks the central St. Oswulf Street axis and balances the symmetrical twin Rossetti House on the opposite side of the street. It is five storeys high, with an 18-window frontage and a central break leading to a pavilion on St. Oswulf Street. Recessed, cornice-hooded porches are found on the courtyard elevation. Segmental arched, glazing bar sash windows with exposed box frames express the interior layout, while the top floor is rendered and features casements. Dormers are located above the flat eaves of the hipped roofs.