Description

TQ 2880 SE HERTFORD STREET
(north side)
1900-/80/10096 no. 36

II

Large corner townhouse c. 1765 with alterations c.1823. Three storeys plus attic and basement,
three bays wide onto Hertford Street ; extends back six bays into Seymour Place. Brick faced with
stucco, channelled on the gound floor. Blind window openings in first two bays of Stanhope Row
and in the middle bay on the top storey. All windows have been replaced. Cast iron balconies and
area railings; fine cast iron boot scraper on patterned marble step. Sloping mansard roof
INTERIOR. Plan: entrance hall with simple cornice leads to central staircase compartment which
rises through all floors. Lit by large, round-headed windows. Stone cantilevered staircase with
original wrought iron 'S' scroll balustrade to first floor level; simple stick balusters to the top.
Moulded and ramped wooden handrail. Stairwell lined with fine plaster roundels and ovals
depicting scenes from Classical mythology and framed by festoons. This may be the work of
Francis Engleheart, a noted plasterer working in other houses in Hertford Street at this time. The
principal rooms of interest are in the front and side of the staircase; there is less original fabric to
the rear. Plain rooms in the attic; simple cornices in rooms on the the second floor. First floor
room: main south-facing room and the adjacent west-facing room have a deeply carved modillion
cornice and carved door surrounds. The ground floor rooms have simpler cornices and complete
beaded and fielded dado panelling; one has a fine Rococco marble fire surround but this may not
be original. The front room on the ground floor has an elaborate plaster cornice below the ceiling
cove and a C17-style door surround ; these are probably C19 or C20 additions but of interest .
Basement area refurbished; vaults survive under the basement steps. HISTORY: The house was
the home of Edward Bulwer Lytton (1803-73), the writer, who lived there 1829-33 and 1839-40.
His son, the future Viscount Lytton, Viceroy of India, was born here in 1831.

Listing NGR: TQ2856780158

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q27082354

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Period Property Manual (New Ed)
• 
  Worcestershire Revised Edition (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Gloucestershire 2: The Vale and The Forest of Dean: Vale and Forest of Dean Pt. 2 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Surrey (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)