Number 53 And Attached Walls And Railings Numbers 17 And 19 And Attached Walls And Railings

Number 53, along with the attached walls and railings, and numbers 17 and 19 and their attached walls and railings, form a group of buildings of group value. These are mid-19th century terraced houses constructed of stucco, with a slate roof.

The buildings are composed of two blocks. The corner block has two storeys with a three-window range facing Great College Street, and a two-window range to the return. The block along Abbey Road is three storeys and has a two-window range, designed to appear as a tower to the main block. The architectural style is Italianate.

The entrance to Great College Street is flat-arched, with an original door and a porch supported by piers in antis. An entablature with a bracketed cornice and blocking course sits above the porch. To the right is a single-storey canted bay with tripartite Tuscan pilaster strips at the corners and joins, and an entablature with a bracketed cornice and blocking course. All windows are flat-arched. The ground floor features banded, chamfered rustication, and the first-floor windows have projecting sills. A cornice strip supports deep eaves, with shields in the frieze between each pair of brackets. The ground floor rustication and bracketed eaves extend to the return, where there is a full-height canted bay with tripartite windows to the first floor and French doors to the garden. A bracketed cornice is positioned between the ground and first floors of the bay only. To the right of this bay, a round-arched entrance is topped by a window. The Abbey Road elevation features a flat-arched entrance and a two-storey canted bay with Tuscan pilasters at the corners and joins, and tripartite windows to each floor. A bracketed cornice sits between the ground and first floors of the bay. The first floor terminates in an entablature. A cornice springing band supports broad, bracketed eaves. Chimneys are located centrally and on the party walls.

The interior of the property was not inspected.

The front garden is enclosed by railings and a low wall. The house at number 19 Abbey Road was formerly the home of Henry Abbey, the Mayor of Brighton in 1875.