Pearson House

Pearson House is a group of terraced houses built in 1847 on the site of the earlier Portland House, which was destroyed by fire in 1825. The development was intended to serve as a terminal feature for Major Villeroy Russell’s Portland Place. In the late 19th century, it was merged into West House, later being acquired by the St Dunstan’s Institute after the First World War. The building was restored and partially rebuilt in 1971, with a large extension added along Abbey Road to the rear.

The building’s exterior is stuccoed, with a late 20th-century mansard roof of metal construction. The façade is three storeys high with a half-basement, comprising a 13-window range, divided into three bays: two windows wide at each outer bay, and seven windows wide in the centre, with a one-window wide section joining the side and centre bays. The windows in this joining section are tripartite. All windows are flat-arched, except for the basement windows in the centre, which are segmental arched. Continuous bands run between the basement and ground floor, and between the ground and first floors. A cornice band sits between the first and second floors, with a sill band above, culminating in an entablature and parapet. The ground-floor French doors are framed with 20th-century architraves, each with a 20th-century metal balcony. A veranda of early 19th-century style is located on the ground floor of each end bay. The windows are sash windows with 20th-century glazing. First-floor windows have projecting sills and architraves, interrupted by square blocks at the corners. Second-floor windows are similarly framed, with pairs of triglyph corbels to the sills and square blocks at the corners on the end bays and the join.

A flat-arched entrance is positioned on the right return, sheltered by a tetrastyle portico of the Composite order, featuring pilaster responds. A short section of pierced wall links to a square Composite pier. The return elevation has a four-window range. The right return, facing St George's Church, features a mid to late 19th-century entrance porch with a portico of Composite columns.

Inside the entrance is a double-height stair hall with an L-plan staircase rising to the first floor; the staircase features cast-iron balusters with a volute string.

Pearson House forms an important grouping with numbers 1-11 and 15-25 Portland Place.