2, St James'S Street

This is a shop with residential flats above, completed in 1791, with alterations in the late 19th and 20th centuries. It was designed by John Palmer and built by Henry Street. The front of the building is faced with limestone ashlar, while the rear is rendered. It has a mansard roof covered with Welsh slate to the front and artificial slate to the rear, along with a coped gable wall on the right, featuring an ashlar stack that shares some early clay pots with the adjoining building at No. 1 St James's Street.

The building has three storeys and an attic, presenting a three-window facade within a wedge-shaped plan that narrows to the right, with the rear elevation set at two different angles. The first floor has three grouped, horned sash windows. The ground floor features a late 19th-century timber shopfront with a three-light timber window featuring V-section mullions and an inserted transom, along with a moulded sill and 20th-century tiles to the stallriser. A half-glazed door to the left incorporates a single pane overlight. A further door, accessible to the upper floors, comprises six fielded panels with reeded and moulded detailing and a single-pane overlight, set within a surround featuring four-panelled pilasters and console brackets flanking the frieze and cornice. A double dormer window has plate glass sashes. A weathered sill band runs continuously with Nos 1 and 3 St James’s Street. Moulded eaves and a coped parapet also continue along this line.

The rear elevation includes an early six-over-six sash window and a nine-pane fixed light to the right, as well as a 20th-century single-storey timber extension. Also present is a small 19th-century two-over-two sash window with a moulded timber architrave and timber sill, along with a small 20th-century window to the right. A plate glass sash window is situated within the mansard roof. The interior has not been inspected. This building was part of an unfinished development of St James's Square, built on land leased in 1790. St James's Street provides one of the four diagonal approaches to St James’s Square, exemplifying Picturesque principles in town planning. Nos 1, 2 and 3 were built by Henry Street, who was granted an underlease in March 1791 for 96 years.