Adelaide House Clarence House

ADELAIDE HOUSE AND CLARENCE HOUSE, PARK ROAD

A pair of semi-detached houses of different build dates, dating to the early-mid 19th century. No. 14 (Clarence House) may be a remodelling of an earlier house of 1728, whilst No. 16 (Adelaide House) is thought to have been built in 1835. Both underwent 19th-century extensions to the rear, with rear elevations altered in the late 19th century.

MATERIALS AND CONSTRUCTION

The façades and return elevation of No. 14 are constructed in stock brick with stucco finish. No. 16 is of stock brick in Flemish bond. Extensions to the rear are in red brick. Late 19th-century tile-hanging has been applied to the rear second-floor elevations of both houses. Both have slate roofs.

NO. 14, CLARENCE HOUSE

The house comprises three storeys arranged over two bays. The plan is rectangular, comprising an entrance hall with stair to the rear, and front and back rooms to each floor.

The façade features a shallow porch to the left bay, carried on a pair of Doric columns. A mid-19th-century Gothic door with glazed panels leads to the interior. A large curved bay window with three sashes is divided by pilasters. Windows have moulded architraves and are six-over-six pane sashes. A Sun Insurance plaque is visible on the first floor. The parapet features a moulded cornice, with a hipped roof behind. Later windows have been inserted on the ground and first floor of the side elevation. The rear elevation has tripartite sash windows.

Internally, the ground floor front room has a curved corner returning to the rear hall. The hall and first-floor landing have a plaster modillion cornice. The stair rises in two separate flights, with slender turned newels, stick balusters and a mahogany handrail. The interior retains early-mid 19th-century joinery, including door and window architraves, shutters, and skirtings, though some late 19th and 20th-century replacements are present. Very little visible evidence of early 18th-century fabric survives, although a section of full-height panelling in the second-floor rear room may date to this period.

NO. 16, ADELAIDE HOUSE

The house comprises three storeys arranged over three bays. The plan is an L-shape, formed by a rectangular frontage block with a rear wing on the north side. The frontage block contains an off-centre entrance hall with one room to either side and a stair to the rear. The rear wing was originally two storeys, with a second floor added in the 19th century. A two-storey extension to the rear of this wing is accompanied by a further single-storey range extending westward. A 20th-century brick toilet extension has been built in the angle between the main house and rear wing.

The porch is placed slightly off-centre to the right, with pilasters and side windows featuring margin-light sashes. The door is six-panelled. Windows have moulded architraves and are six-over-six pane sashes. The parapet carries a moulded cornice, with a hipped roof behind. The rear elevation has ground and first-floor windows to the main house blocked. A sash window with coloured margin lights to the second-floor stair landing is present. Late 19th-century windows to the second floor are raised above parapet level.

Internally, doors to the ground-floor rooms and entrance of the main house have reeded architraves with corner rosettes. The hall and first-floor landing have a plaster modillion cornice. The dog-leg stair with winder to turn has slender turned newels (that to the ground floor has been replaced), stick balusters and a mahogany handrail. The interior retains much early-mid 19th-century joinery, including six-panelled doors, door and window architraves, some plaster cornices to ground and first floor, shutters, skirtings and chimneypieces with some original grates. A later 19th-century cornice has been added to the upper floor south room, whilst that to the north room has been modified.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

The houses occupy the site of a pair of cottages, possibly of 17th-century or earlier date. No. 14 is thought to have been built on the site of the northern cottage in 1728. In 1834 the southern cottage was sold, and a new house built on the site the following year, believed to be No. 16. It is possible that the remodelling of No. 14 took place around 1842, when both properties were in single ownership.

These early-mid 19th-century neo-classical houses are of particular importance as they retain their essential plan forms, staircases and numerous original features. No. 14 may contain earlier fabric from the 18th-century house. They represent important survivals of the elegant houses built throughout the Georgian period, when Teddington, like neighbouring Twickenham and Richmond, was an affluent, semi-rural retreat from London.