Catherine House

Catherine House is a late 18th century house of two storeys and a basement, originally with five windows. It is built of yellow brick and has a stone mutule cornice and a brick parapet which hides the roof. There is a narrow band at the sill level of the first floor windows, and a wider band at the level of the first floor. The sash windows are set in reveals lined with stucco, and have gauged, flat brick arches. A plinth runs along the base of the building.

A wide, shallow porch with imported prostyle columns is accessed by three steps. The porch’s frieze and capitals are ornamented with leaves, garlands and paterae. Above the porch is a round-arched door opening. The door itself is of six panels, with a cornice head and a patterned, radial fanlight within a panelled surround. The moulded architrave to the door’s head features a lion mask on the keystone and sits on impost blocks that continue with the cornice head of the porch. Wrought iron area railings are on either side of the porch.

On the east side of the house is a full-height canted bay with a cast iron balcony on the ground floor. A two-storey, set-back wing to the left has a circular window with decorative leading on the first floor.

Catherine House is part of a group including numbers 23 to 45 (odd) on Blackheath Road.