No. 16 And Attached Railings

This is a three-storey, attic, and basement house, now flats, built around 1786, with alterations in the 19th and 20th centuries. It is attributed to John Palmer and built by John Hensley. The front of the house is faced with limestone ashlar, while the rear is of rubble construction. It has a double-pile, parapeted roof with a mansard front; the rear section rises to a full three storeys. The roof is covered with Welsh slate, and a coped party wall has two ashlar stacks to the left.

The front elevation features a two-window arrangement. The first floor has an eight-over-eight sash window with a wrought iron balconette to the left, and a lengthened six-over-nine sash window to the right. The second floor mirrors this with an eight-over-eight sash to the left and a similar six-over-six sash to the right. The ground floor features an eight-over-eight sash to the left and, to the right, a projecting single-storey porch covering a crossover. The porch contains a six-panel door with flush, fielded, and glazed panels above a plate glass overlight, set in a plain reveal with a pennant stone step. The porch is supported by three Tuscan pilasters, flanking the door and supporting a frieze and moulded cornice with a coped parapet, extending to the left and right sides, with a small horned sash window to the left. The basement has an eight-over-eight sash window. A double dormer is visible with plate glass horned sashes. The rear elevation has glazing bar sashes, with the ground and first floors featuring three grouped sashes with heads forming a continuous segmental arch.

The interior has not been inspected.

Attached to the front are wrought iron railings and a gate with urn tops and urn finials to the left and centre, with some missing to the right, all 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 development was undertaken on leasehold land leased from the legatees of Morford's Estate and subsequently let out on building leases. The freehold land was conveyed to Hensley and William Phillips.

The house's construction is documented in Hensley Family Papers (Bundles 16 and 47) and reflected in a Plan of the Parish of Walcot from 1740.