No. 12 And Attached Railings

House. Built around 1786, with alterations in the 19th and 20th centuries. It is believed to be the work of John Palmer. The front is limestone ashlar, while the rear is a mix of ashlar and rubble. The house has a double-pile, mansard roof covered with Welsh slate, with coped party walls and two ashlar chimney stacks to the right. A staircase is located at the rear.

The house is three storeys with an attic and basement, and has a single bay with a tripartite-window front. The first floor features three grouped four/four, six/six, four/four sash windows in simple surrounds. The second floor has three similar sash windows in simple surrounds. The ground floor has two six/six sash windows in splayed reveals and a continuous stone sill to the right. A six-panel door sits to the left, with flush panels, rounded upper corners, recessed moulded panels, and a single glazed upper panel in a simple surround. The basement has two six/six sash windows with horns and a continuous stone sill. There is a 20th-century door and window filling an area under a crossover, along with 20th-century area steps. A weathered sill band runs along the first floor, another sill band to the second floor, a moulded eaves cornice, and a coped parapet with a lead hopperhead to the right. The rear elevation includes a two-and-a-half storey ashlar extension off the staircase, with mostly sash windows featuring glazing bars. A double dormer has plate glass sashes, and a lead hopperhead is at eaves to the right. The interior has not been inspected.

Attached to the front are wrought iron railings and a gate, featuring cast urn tops and urn finials to the left and centre (missing to the right), set on limestone bases. The house was developed in conjunction with Portland Place by John Hensley, along with numbers 12-15 Burlington Street, numbers 1-4 Portland Place, and numbers 17-20 Portland Place. This was on leasehold land, demised in 1782 for three lives by the legatees of Morford’s Estate, and then let out on building leases in 1785. The east side of Burlington Street and Portland Place was on freehold land, belonging to Hensley, which was conveyed in 1772 and then by lease and release in 1783 from Hensley, Phillips, and their trustee to Daniel Tanner as trustee for Hensley.