Silwood (Number 107) And Attached Area Railings

Silwood (number 107) and its attached area railings are a pair of semi-detached villas dating from approximately 1833 to 1850. They are built of stucco over brick, with a hipped slate roof, stucco ridge stacks, and iron area railings and verandah.

The villas are three storeys high with a basement, presenting six windows on the first floor, and a two-storey, two-window range set back to the left. The ends of the buildings project slightly. Stucco detailing includes horizontal rustication on the ground floor, a band above the first floor, and Doric pilasters between the windows. A crowning architrave, frieze, and cornice with a blocking course and copings top the facade. First floor windows are corniced on console brackets. The windows are mostly 6/6 sash windows throughout, though the left-hand range features a tripartite window with a 6/6 pane between two 2/2 sashes. All windows are within plain architraves and have sills. The entrances are at the ends of the villas, with flights of roll-edged steps leading to recesses flanked by Doric pilasters. The doors are four-panelled with sidelights and overlights. The basement windows are 6/6 sashes. Returns to the ground floor have bowed projections, partially interrupted by an extension to the left. The rear of number 107 has a two-storey bow window with 6/6 sash windows, curved on plan. The interior was not inspected during the listing process.

A latticework balustrade and pierced timber uprights with a scalloped frieze feature on the verandah that extends across the central four windows. The area railings have an X-motif design.

The Park, where the villas are located, was originally laid out by Thomas Billings around 1833 as a tree-lined oval drive with a central park, which briefly functioned as a zoological garden in the mid-19th century. Samuel Daukes later acquired the development in 1839 and continued the building program. The development was influenced by schemes for Regent’s Park in London.