Garden Flat Nos. 1, 2 And 2A And Attached Railings

Garden Flat Nos. 1, 2 and 2A and Attached Railings, Marlborough Street

Two terrace houses now converted to a house and flats, completed in 1790 and designed by John Palmer, built by George Watts. The buildings are constructed in limestone ashlar with rubble to the rear of No. 2.

No. 2 has a Welsh Slate double pile parapeted mansard roof, whilst Nos. 1 and 2A have Welsh Slate hipped roofs. No. 2 has an ashlar stack with early clay pots to the front left; to the rear left is a truncated stack probably shared with Nos. 1 and 2A. The building occupies the junction of Marlborough Street, Julian Road and Cavendish Road, forming the last house in Marlborough Street of conventional plan with the staircase to the front. A further building is attached to the left (Nos. 1 and 2A) with a splayed corner to the junction at Julian Road and Cavendish Road, echoed by a splayed corner to the rear facing up Cavendish Road.

No. 2 presents three storeys, an attic, basement and two-window front. The first floor has two plate glass horned sashes in plain reveals with wrought iron balconettes. The second floor has two similar windows without balconettes with stone sills and one similar window to the left. A six-panel door with reeded, fielded and glazed panels sits in a pedimented Doric doorcase with two Doric pilasters. The basement has a six-over-six sash in a plain reveal with stone sill and a small exterior with twentieth-century glazed doors in the area, with no area steps. A single dormer features two-over-two horned sashes in a moulded architrave, and a small dormer has a four-pane window. A timber bressumer and stone band course sit over the ground floor, with a weathered sill band to the first floor, frieze, moulded eaves cornice and coped parapet.

The left side to Julian Road has two six-over-six sashes in plain reveals to the first floor, two similar sashes with stone sills to the second floor, and one similar eight-over-eight and one two-over-two sash to the third floor. The ground floor has one similar six-over-six sash and one small twentieth-century window to the right, and at the centre a six-panel door with three-pane overlight in a plain reveal (No. 2A); to the left is a four-panel door with three-pane overlight in a plain reveal (No. 1). A timber bressumer sits over the ground floor, with a band course and weathered sill band to the first floor continued from the front, and a coved eaves cornice and coped parapet.

The splayed corner to the junction of Julian Road and Cavendish Road has a six-over-six sash in a plain reveal with a simple wrought iron balconette to the first floor, a similar sash without balconette with stone sill to the second floor, and a similar eight-over-eight sash to the third floor. The elevation to Cavendish Road has a six-over-six sash in a plain reveal with wrought iron balconette close to the corner, paired with that on the splayed corner, similar blind windows above, and a six-over-six sash in a plain reveal with stone sill to each floor, with a similar sash to the ground floor. Both these elevations have a timber bressumer over the ground floor, band course, first floor sill band, eaves cornice and coped parapet continued from the Julian Road elevation.

The other faces of the building are blind. No. 2 Marlborough Street has nineteenth-century plate glass windows to the rear, lead hopperhead and down pipe. No. 2 Cavendish Road (basement flat) has a six-over-six sash with wrought iron window guard with shaped heads to the bars, and a half-glazed door with a small extension in the area.

Attached wrought iron railings with cast urn heads on limestone bases form subsidiary features.

The building forms part of the incomplete St James's Square development on land leased by Fielder, King, Hewlett and Broom from Sir Peter Rivers Gay on 25 March 1790. Marlborough Street forms one of the diagonal approaches to St James's Square. An underlease for Nos. 1 and 2 was granted to George Watts on 23 November 1790 for 96 years from 24 June 1790, for a piece of ground and two messuages thereon, indicating the use of the corner site by the builder to construct an extra house.