157, Watling Street West

No. 157 on Watling Street West is a house dating from the mid-18th century. It features an ironstone ashlar façade facing the street, with 20th-century plain-tile roofs and brick stacks at each end. The house has a two-unit central-staircase layout and stands three stories tall with five windows across the front. The central entrance consists of a six-panel door topped by a fanlight, all framed by a painted moulded stone surround and a moulded stone cornice. The windows are 12-pane sashes with moulded stone sills and segmental-arched heads, complete with keyblocks on the ground, first, and attic floors. The building has a plinth, painted limestone storey bands, a deep moulded limestone cornice, and a plain stone-coped parapet. The central bay and the strips at either end project slightly. At the rear, there is a two-storey brick extension with a catslide roof and a single-storey wing to the left. Inside, there is a fine closed well staircase with turned balusters that leads from the ground floor to the attic, along with a half cellar and a stone cellar. Notable interior features include an original veined marble chimneypiece with a fluted keyblock, an eared wood fireplace surround in an upper room, a fitted cupboard with shaped shelves, and some panelled dados.