Rox Borough House, 101 Oxford Road

A detached house, built around 1859, converted to offices.

MATERIALS AND PLAN: the building is of dark red brick with stone and stucco dressings. There is an iron or steel veranda to the rear and iron railings around the basement windows. The roof covering is slate with timber eaves blocks and soffit. The building is of two storeys plus basement.

EXTERIOR: the principal elevation faces north and is symmetrical, with a centrally-placed doorway on the raised ground floor flanked by two six-over-six sash windows within moulded architraves and three six-over-six sash windows on the first floor under gauged-brickwork flat arches. The two basement windows, partially visible from the street, are enclosed by iron railings with honeysuckle ornament. A flight of four stone steps leads to the main doorway which comprises a four-panelled door with a rectangular fanlight above, set within a moulded door surround with a bracketed hood. There is a stucco plat band across the elevation at first-floor cill level. There are stone kneelers (moulded brackets) to either gable end wall and timber battens along the soffit of the pitched roof. The two chimney stacks are positioned on the gable end walls.

The brickwork of the east, south and west elevations is in Flemish garden wall bond. The east elevation onto Howard Street is blank, aside from a single round-headed sash window placed centrally at second-floor level. The southern elevation contains two six-over-six sash windows on the ground floor and two six-over-six and one two-over-two sash windows at first-floor level. There is a plain iron or steel veranda across the length of the rear elevation.

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: C19 brick walls in Flemish garden wall bond run along the east and west boundaries of the front garden. A taller brick wall, recently rebuilt but possibly reusing historic bricks runs along the eastern boundary of the rear garden.