Kilmar House And Attached Forecourt Railings

Kilmar House is a mid-18th century town house, refronted in 1808. It is located on the west side of Higher Lux Street in Liskeard. The house is built of painted rubble with a plinth; it has keyed flat arches, a first-floor sill string, and an asbestos slate roof. The building follows a double-depth plan, with an 18th-century range at the rear and an 1808 range in front. The symmetrical front elevation has three windows per floor. The windows are 20th-century hornless sashes with glazing bars. The central doorway is a 20th-century copy, featuring a pediment, engaged Tuscan columns on consoles, a moulded architrave, an entablature with paterae and a dentilled cornice, fielded panelled reveals, and a six-panel door. The ground-floor windows are wider and have tripartite sashes. The rear wing is three stories high, with slate hanging to the upper floors. The right-hand return elevation has two windows with pointed heads and intersecting glazing. The interior has been extensively restored, retaining some 18th-century features such as fielded panelled rear chambers and some ceiling cornices. Other features date from 1808, including an open-well, open-string staircase with turned newels, intermediate stanchions, moulded balusters, a ramped mahogany handrail, a geometric back stair with similar detailing, moulded and carved ceiling cornices, and panelled doors. The front area is enclosed by spearhead railings with urn finials to the main stanchions.