4 Brewer Street, Deal

This is a house with a front range dating to the late 17th century and a rear range from the early 18th century. It was refronted and largely refenestrated in the mid-19th century, with later 19th and 20th century extensions to the rear. The exterior is brick, covered with stucco and incised lines. The front roof slopes with slate tiles, while the rear has pegtiled sections, featuring a rendered chimney stack to the right of the front range and a tall rendered stack to the rear elevation.

The house is two storeys and has attics; it has two windows to the front and one to the rear of the earlier ranges. The original layout appears to have been a single room on each floor, with a further room added on each floor by a nearly contemporary addition. The front elevation features a platband between the ground and first floors. A mid-19th century gabled dormer has a six-light sash window with horns. The first floor windows are two 12-pane sashes with cambered head linings and horns. The ground floor has a 19th-century doorcase with a moulded cornice, pilasters, rectangular fanlight, and a six-panelled door, along with a large, later 20th-century Neo-Georgian style curved bay window. Gable ends with kneelers are visible on the side elevations. The rear elevation has a gable with a mid-19th century sash window with vertical glazing bars and horns to the upper floors, and an early 19th-century 16-pane sash window to the ground floor. Later 19th-century two-storey brick kitchen and bathroom extensions, and a one-storey 20th-century kitchen extension, are not considered to be of particular architectural interest.

Inside, the hall features a mid-19th century half-glazed door with marginal glazing. The front ground floor room, likely originally used for cooking, has a large brick open fireplace with a wooden bressumer, chamfered with lamb's tongue stops, and a rectangular spice hole. A spine beam has a one-inch chamfer with lamb's tongue stops, along with chamfered floor joists and wide floor boards. A thick internal wall indicates it was originally an external wall. The rear ground floor room, in the early 18th century extension, was probably originally the parlour, and features a smaller curved brick fireplace, a central axial beam with lamb's tongue stops, exposed floor joists, and wide floor boards. The staircase from the ground to the first floor was repositioned in the late 19th century and has turned balusters and a moulded newel post with a ball finial. An original half-winder staircase from the first floor to the attic remains in its original position near the principal chamber's fireplace. This room also has a brick fireplace with a curved wooden bressumer and axial beam with chamfer and lamb's tongue stops, along with plain floor joists. A smaller brick fireplace with a curved bressumer is found in the rear bedroom, although the ceiling is plastered. C19 panelling is present at the top of the attic stairs, and the roof space has lath and plaster panels.

The house is of good quality and was likely originally connected with the Royal Navy rather than built as a fisherman’s cottage.