19, Litchdon Street

No. 19 Litchdon Street is a house dating from the early 19th century. It is constructed of solid, likely stone or brick, walls with a slate roof and red ridge tiles. Each gable has a red brick chimney, with a projecting brickcourse and moulded cap forming an entablature; the left-hand chimney is a replica of the original. Low gable parapets define the roofline. The building is double-fronted and has a depth of two rooms, with a central entrance passage leading to a staircase at the rear.

The two-storey facade has a three-window range. Windows are sashed with two vertical glazing bars creating margin panes, and are surrounded by moulded architraves. A round-arched doorway is recessed within a larger round-arched opening with a moulded architrave and incorporates a six-panel door with a patterned fanlight above, set back within a lobby featuring a plaster groined vault. Pilasters, shared with the adjacent properties, flank the front facade. A moulded eaves cornice runs along the top of the front elevation.

The interior, limited to the entrance passage and staircase in a 1985 inspection, features a doorway with a moulded and enriched architrave to the left of the passage. The geometrical wooden staircase has thin, square-section balusters and shaped step-ends, with a moulded cornice at the top of the stair compartment.

Historical records indicate the house was leased by the Corporation in 1821 to Philip Hodge, a Barnstaple builder, who had “lately erected” it. It was then part of a terrace known as Litchdon Terrace, including Nos. 17, 18, and 20. The property forms part of a terrace which was originally uniform.