Ford House and Attached Garden Railings

Ford House is a house dating to approximately 1840, located on Victoria Road in Dartmouth. The construction is of plastered stone rubble, with slate roofing. The building has a basement and attics, and is two stories high. The street facade is largely plain except for the recessed, part-glazed six-panel front door, which has vertical mouldings on the lower panels. The garden front presents a symmetrical two-window arrangement between end pilasters. A central basement doorway features a similar six-panel door. Flanking this are twelve-pane sash windows with margin glazing. The ground floor incorporates tall French windows opening onto a cast-iron balcony with an ornamental balustrade. First-floor windows are also twelve-pane sashes. Historic photographs, according to the owner, show the garden front originally with stucco Tudor-style hoodmoulds. The roof is hipped with a gabled dormer featuring a pair of horned four-pane sashes. The interior retains many original features, including a stick baluster staircase, marble fireplaces, moulded plaster cornices, and panelled doors. The road embankment that forms the street side of the garden is revetted with stone and has ornamental cast-iron railings. The house is part of a group of buildings dating from the second quarter of the 19th century, situated alongside New Street (now Victoria Road). This street was constructed in 1825 to allow horse-drawn carriages to enter and exit the town.