56, FIRST AVENUE (See details for further address information)

No. 56 First Avenue, along with Nos. 1-7 St John's Place, is a building complex dating from around 1872, which has been altered over time. The site now includes garages, hairstylists, and dwellings, with a shopfront for the hairstylists added in the late 20th century. The buildings are constructed from yellow stock bricks, featuring brick quoins, moulded bricks, and stone dressings. They have hipped slate roofs with overhanging eaves supported by shaped brackets, and large brick stacks with moulded coping that rise from the eaves on the main elevation and flanking gable above the first-floor window.

The layout is U-shaped, originally designed with symmetrical blocks on either side of a narrow entrance to the mews yard. The southern range is the more complete section, standing two stories tall with a 1:3 bay arrangement. The first floor was originally lit by a segmental-headed sash window with original glazing bars, which has a moulded surround and hoodmould, topped by a shallow gable. The inner bay is set back slightly and features an inserted sash window on the ground floor. To the right, there is a three-bay blind arcade with segmental heads and keystones, and an inserted doorway in the second bay on the left.

The northern block has a PVC first-floor window and a one-bay extension on the north front, with three inserted plate glass windows and one inserted glazed door. Some original sash windows and doors can still be seen in the mews yard. This building is depicted on the Ordnance Survey map of 1878 and is likely part of the original layout of the Stanford estate designed by James Knowles.