Albany House and attached railings

Albany House and attached railings

Terrace house, now converted to flats. Built 1770-1775 as part of the Rivers Street development by John Wood the Younger.

The building is constructed with limestone ashlar to the front elevation and ashlar and rubble to the rear. It has a parapeted mansard roof with artificial slate. The house sits on a wedge-shaped site that narrows to the right, with a double-depth plan to the left and a single-depth plan to the right featuring a canted bay. The roof structure includes two ashlar stacks with early clay pots over the left section, a single large ashlar stack with early clay pots to the right (shared with No. 31 Rivers Street), and coped party walls.

The house is positioned at the top of Russell Street with a full-height canted bay axially aligned on Russell Street, forming a distinctive terminal feature. The front elevation is three storeys high with an attic and basement, displaying five windows across the principal floor.

The first floor comprises to the left a six/six-sash window with three fixed panes added below in an ovolo moulded architrave with frieze and cornice and lowered moulded stone sill on console brackets, followed by a six/six-sash of similar design. The bay to the right contains three six/nine-sashes in matching architraves with friezes, cornices and lowered moulded stone sills on console brackets. The second floor has five six/six-sashes in ovolo moulded architraves with stone sills. The ground floor features to the left three grouped sashes (four/four, six/six, four/four) in chamfered reveals with continuous stone sill. The bay to the right has three six/six-sashes in chamfered reveals with stone sills, the central one having three fixed panes added below and a lowered sill. To the centre left stands a six-panel door with flush reeded, fielded and single glazed panel, set in a pedimented Doric doorcase with two pennant steps and three steps up to a pennant-paved crossover.

The basement contains to the left two six/six-sashes in chamfered reveals with continuous stone sill and wrought iron window bars with shaped heads, together with a plank door fitted with a wrought iron knocker and nineteenth-century timber architrave in ashlar infilling beneath the crossover. Limestone area steps with slate insets are fitted with a wrought iron handrail. To the right of the basement a four-panel door with five-pane overlight infills the space under the crossover, flanked by two six/six-sashes with chamfered reveals and wrought iron window bars with shaped heads. Two double and one single dormer feature six/six-sashes.

The band course over the ground floor continues across Nos. 28 and 29 Rivers Street and includes an incised street name reading RIVER'S-STREET (conserved circa 1985) centred on the bay. The modillion cornice is continuous with Nos. 28, 29 and 31 Rivers Street. A lead downpipe is positioned to the centre left. The rear elevation displays six/six-sashes and two small extensions at ground floor level.

Attached wrought iron railings and gate with shaped heads stand on painted limestone bases.

Rivers Street was developed by John Wood the Younger in three phases. Nos. 1-11 were constructed in conjunction with Catharine Place on land conveyed on perpetual leasehold from Sir Benet Garrard to Wood and Brock, his trustee, on 19-20 December 1766. Nos. 16-28 and 36-47 Rivers Street, together with land behind Nos. 46 and 47, were conveyed from the Rivers Estate (owned by Sir Peter Rivers Gay) to Wood on 5 March 1768 for a 99-year term. Nos. 28-35 Rivers Street were constructed in conjunction with Russell Street on land purchased by John Wood and Andrew Sproule, his trustee, from Thomas and Daniel Omer on 30 December 1768 on perpetual freehold rents. The strip on which Nos. 12-15 and 48-50 Rivers Street stand was probably never acquired by Wood. The sites of Nos. 12-15 were conveyed from the Rivers Estate to Thomas and James Beale on 30 December 1774 and 16 October 1776 on perpetual freehold rents. Various Bath builders were responsible for implementing Wood's overall design.