Numbers 23 To 39 And Attached Forecourt Walls And Railings

Numbers 23 to 39 and attached forecourt walls and railings are a planned terrace of houses dating to the 1860s. They are located on the south side of Grand Parade, Hoe, West Plymouth, with the rear elevation overlooking Plymouth Sound, and several are now used as hotels. The houses are constructed of stucco, with stucco detailing. The roof is hidden behind a balustraded parapet with a moulded cornice, and there are stuccoed end and axial stacks with moulded cornices. The building follows a double-depth plan, with the houses arranged as mirror-image pairs, each featuring paired porches. Each house originally had one room at the front. The houses are arranged as a three-storey structure over a basement. The front elevations of the central and end houses project forward; each house presents a two-window range, except for the central house, which has three. Many original hornless sash windows remain, along with some horned replacements and some 20th-century windows, with tripartite windows on the ground floor. Stucco detailing includes pilastered porches, each with three keyed round-arched openings to the front and two similar blind openings to the sides, as well as an entablature above the ground floor that continues around the porches with balustraded fronts. Bracketed sills, pilasters, an entablature and pediments feature on the first floor of the central and end houses, as well as to the principal chambers of the other houses. Other window openings on upper floors have moulded architraves and sill brackets, with a sill string. Panelled doors are present throughout, except at numbers 33 and 39, which have 20th-century doors. Internally, inspected properties retain moulded and carved plaster ceiling cornices and other original features, including staircases. The property features stuccoed forecourt walls surmounted by cast-iron railings with pointed arcaded detail. This is a prominently situated and complete terrace of the period.