40, Great Pulteney Street

This is a substantial terrace house located on the north side of Great Pulteney Street, dating to around 1790. It was designed by Thomas Baldwin, John Eveleigh, and other architects as part of the large-scale development of the Bathwick estate east of the River Avon. The building is constructed from limestone ashlar, featuring double-pitched mansard roofs with dormers, moulded stacks frequently topped with hand-thrown chimney pots, and coped party walls.

The three-storey house, with lower ground floors and basements, has a three-window front. The terrace originally possessed a coped parapet, now partially removed, and incorporates a modillion cornice, frieze, and fascia, along with moulded sill string courses. Original six/six-pane sash windows remain. The ground floor features a platband moulded to the base, chamfered rustication with radial voussoirs to flat arches, a plinth, and six-panel doors with overlights. The rest of the terrace’s facade is irregularly articulated by a giant order of fluted Corinthian pilasters. No. 40 steps forward and closely resembles No. 21 at the opposite end of the terrace in style. A semicircular arched window, featuring radial glazing bars and a cornice on consoles with a double festoon and frieze, is centrally located on the first floor, flanked by paterae. The right return facade, which cants back into Sydney Place, includes three windows and an entrance. A central stack rises above the parapet, featuring a sunflower in the centre of a circular panel with wheat-ear drops. The interior was not inspected and the building was sub-divided into flats in 1986. Original features include square-section railings with urn finials and vases, and gates to basement areas. Great Pulteney Street is an impressive urban design, approximately 100 feet wide, and among the most significant of its kind in Britain. Robert Adam initially produced designs for the street in 1782, but Thomas Baldwin finalized the design. Building took time, partially impacted by a construction downturn in the 1790s.