Numbers 2 To 8 And Ormond House

Numbers 2 to 8 and Ormond House comprise a terrace of houses and shops, originally built around 1825-6 by J.B. Papworth for Pearson Thompson, with later 19th-century refronting to the Montpellier Street facade. The construction utilizes stucco over brick, with slate roofs and brick party-wall stacks. Iron balconies and porches are present.

The rear (east) facade, facing Montpellier Exchange, retains its original appearance. It is two stories with an attic, and includes an extended ground-floor range to the right, featuring 12 first-floor windows. A single-story range extends to the right, adjoining the Montpellier Rotunda. A first-floor band is visible on the left side. Window bays six and seven feature rounded angles. Most ground-floor windows are set within wider, taller, round-arched recesses. Original windows are 6/6 sashes, set in plain reveals with sills; the sixth first-floor window is curved on plan. Previously, centrally positioned panelled, part-glazed doors with fanlights provided access. The extended east range has plate-glass windows, a crowning cornice and balustrade, and roof dormers.

The Montpellier Street facade is two stories high, with a 3:5:1:1:4 window arrangement. The 8-window range to the left (east) is taller and forms a distinct architectural unit. On the first floor, windows are 1/1 horns, with cambered heads, a moulded impost band, and a continuous cornice resting on moulded corbel brackets. A low, coped parapet features raised parapet caps at the ends and above the party walls and central section of the west part. The ground floors currently contain two shop fronts with plate-glass windows and central entrances. The shop front to the left (east) has a cornice on corbel brackets, while the shop front to the west features outer colonettes, a wide frieze, and a raised open segmental ‘pediment’ supported by corbel brackets. The original first-floor windows are 6/6 sashes, and the shop fronts are glazed with friezes and cornices on console brackets.

The interior has not been inspected.

A decorative balcony to number 6 exhibits a rod and star motif, with a lattice frieze. Other balconies feature rod and flower motifs with scroll friezes.

Originally named Ormond Villas, the building is historically significant for its east-facing facade designed by Papworth, which complements the Montpellier Rotunda and Pump Room. Numbers 8 and Ormond House were added to the heritage listing on May 5, 1972.