The Halsteads

The Halsteads is a house built in 1868 and designed by W. Blomfield. It is notable as the first known architect-designed concrete house. The building has mass concrete walls, which are rendered and whitewashed, and the roof is partly tiled, partly tarmac covered, with a pitched roof to the perimeter and a central flat area that provides lighting for a passage below. The house is two storeys and has an attic. It is four bays wide, with cross gables facing the street on the first and third bays; the third bay is slightly advanced and contains the entrance, featuring a 4-light mullioned and transomed window above. A staircase window is located between storeys to the right of the left-hand bay. Prominent eaves and a string course mark the building's elevation. The windows are moulded and recessed. An imported doorcase is present. Internal walls are of concrete. Joseph Tull, the inventor of standardised concrete shuttering, was the contractor.