38 Kent Road and 3-15 (consec) Portland Terrace, Southsea, with attached iron railings, concrete boundary wall and piers

A terrace of 13 houses and a former hotel or public house, built between 1846 and 1849 by the architect T.E. Owen, located in Southsea. The building comprises 32 bays across 4 storeys and a basement, constructed of stuccoed brick with low-pitched slate roofs.

The terrace features centre and end projecting wings. The northernmost wing is the former Havana Bar, which was previously known as the Portland Hotel and before that as The Dog public house; it now faces both Portland Terrace and Kent Road (No. 38) and is currently a vacant building. The terrace has been converted into flats, including subdivisions of Nos. 3, 4b, 5b–f, 6b, 7b–f, 8b–f, 9b, 10–11, 11c, 12–13 Portland Terrace. Stuccoed chimney stacks with moulded caps are positioned at the centre and right of the left wing, centre and left of the right wing, centre of the centre wing, and centrally between each pair of flanking houses. The ground floors are horizontally rusticated, and quoins are rusticated throughout, with vermiculated rustication at ground floor level on the former hotel facade facing Kent Road.

The north facade facing Kent Road features the main front of the former Portland Hotel. At its centre is a projecting flat-roofed porch approached by three stone steps, with a 2-leaf, 6-panelled door with glazed upper panels set under a cambered arch with flanking pilasters and dentiled cornice. To the left is a 6-pane sash under a flat arch with plain architrave and recessed apron, and a blind window stands to the right. A continuous slate balcony at the first floor has ornate iron railings. The first floor displays two 15-pane round-headed unequal full-length sashes with radial panes at the top, set under architrave arches with flanking pilasters (one to the left, one at centre), with a blind window to the right. The second floor has a sillband with two 16-pane sashes under flat arches with architrave surrounds, and a further blind window to the right. The third floor has a linked fleur-de-lys moulded band, with two squat round-headed 6-pane casements at centre and left under round arches with architraves, and a blind window to the right. Deep boxed eaves with paired brackets crown the facade.

The west facade facing Portland Terrace presents considerable complexity. At the left, the 2-bay projecting wing (No. 38 Kent Road) has a mid-20th-century flat-roofed porch with a door and flanking sashes. The first floor contains two round-headed sashes; the second floor has a sillband with two 16-pane sashes, a moulded band, and at the third floor two 6-pane round-headed casements under round arches with architraves, with eaves similar to the north facade. To the right of this projecting wing, within the recessed face of No. 38, are two 12-pane sashes under flat arches with plain architraves and recessed aprons. A continuous balcony at the first floor, similar to that on the north facade, runs the full length of this facade between the projecting wings, with separate balconies to the projecting wings themselves. The first floor features three round-headed sashes, and the second floor three sashes under flat arches matching the left projecting wing. The third floor has a moulded band with three squat casements under flat arches; the two right casements have three panes each, with each casement set between eaves brackets. Deep boxed eaves continue across.

Further right, Nos. 3, 4b, 5b–f and 6b each have a 6-panelled door with overlight. On the right of the door to No. 3 is a sash under a flat arch. To the right of each door at Nos. 4b, 5b–f and 6b is a tripartite sash with an 8-pane centre section and narrow flanking 4-pane sashes, all under flat arches. The first floor displays paired round-headed 5-pane unequal full-length sashes under architrave arches with flanking pilasters. The second floor has a sillband and two 16-pane sashes under flat arches with architrave surrounds. A moulded band matches that of the north facade, with two 4-pane third-floor casements set between eaves brackets.

To the left of the centre projection, within the recessed face, stands an open projecting porch with a round-arched opening and flanking pilasters. Three stone steps lead to a 6-panelled access door for No. 7b–f. A similar porch entrance on the right of the projection provides access to No. 8b–f. Above each porch are first-floor, second-floor and third-floor windows matching the adjacent facade windows. The centre 4-bay projection has four 12-pane sashes under flat arches at ground floor. The first floor displays two paired round-headed sashes, the second floor four 15-pane sashes, and the third floor four round-headed sashes, all similar in treatment to the end projections.

To the right of the centre projecting wing, No. 9 has a panelled door with a tripartite sash to the left. Nos. 10–11, 11c and 12–13 each have a 12-pane sash to the left of the door, a balcony, paired first-floor round-headed sashes, a band, and two third-floor casements all matching the facade at the far left. At the far right, at the corner with the end projecting wing, is a similar porch with a panelled door and overlight accessing Nos. 14 and 15. To this section belong two 12-pane sashes on the left, a balcony, three first-floor round-headed sashes (one paired), three second-floor sashes and three third-floor casements, all matching the adjacent part of the facade. The right projecting wing has a similar facade to the far left projecting wing except that the ground floor has two 12-pane sashes and a first-floor balcony. The right return (south) is similar to the left return of the far left projecting wing, except that the ground floor has a 16-pane sash on each side of the central porch, and each floor has three windows.

The basement areas have attached iron railings. The concrete boundary wall, which has been restored to original profile, features a moulded oval pierced top with weathered coping set in panels, with intermediate square coped piers. Gate piers at the north and south ends each carry a weathered coping supporting a ball finial.