Georgian House And Attached Railings

This is a substantial, early 18th-century house and attached railings, dating from 1745 to 1748, originally designed by John Wood the Elder as part of his scheme for the Abbey Orchard. The building, now flats, forms the left-hand end of a balanced twenty-five-bay terrace, with a central projection topped by a pediment. The façade is of limestone ashlar, with the ground floor of the Duke Street elevation painted. The roof is slate, and incorporates a mansard with six flat-topped dormers. The exterior presents three storeys, attics, and basements, with a ten-bay front to Duke Street, arranged as two bays, five bays, and three bays, and a three-bay return to North Parade. A platband runs across the first floor, with a sill band below, except at Number 1 Duke Street. Late 19th-century plate glass sash windows are present throughout, with dropped sills to the first five windows of Number 1. All first floor windows have cornice heads. The two left-hand bays of the North Parade elevation are blind on all floors. The main doorway features pediments on consoles, leading to glazed double doors; two doorways have been converted to windows. Originally stone balustrades, the property is now surrounded by wrought iron area railings. A modillion cornice runs along the building, terminating in a parapet, topped by ashlar stacks with decorative pots.

The interior of Number 1 includes a spectacular central staircase with a large light well and Doric banisters. Photograph records from 1946 show fine stone fireplaces with Vitruvian scroll, egg and dart, and laurel leaf ornament, along with noteworthy plasterwork. A front room on the first floor of Number 1 features raised and fielded box shutters with a cyma reverse single fascia architrave. A central corridor on the same floor has a late 18th-century ceiling with a palmette frieze. The staircase in Number 2 was removed. The small east room on the first floor has ovolo raised and fielded panelling with a dado rail on the east wall. The lobby features an elaborate original cornice with dentils, and the west room has two windows.

Historically, Number 1 served as John Pinch the Younger's office in 1829, a Nurses' Home from 1862 to 1870, and a boarding school in 1906. Number 2 was used as a training school for female servants in 1871, then as a Homeopathic Hospital from 1875 to 1893, and also as a boarding school in 1906. Until the mid-20th century, the houses formed part of the Westbourne Hotel.