Description

1900/1/10377 NEW QUEBEC STREET W1
20-AUG-07 21-25

GV II
Terrace of five houses with ground floor shops, 1780s or 1790s, part of the Portman Estate, with later shop fronts.

EXTERIOR: Each building is of four storeys, plus basement. The ground floors were converted into shops in the C19 and there are traces of the Victorian shop front in No. 23, but the current shop fronts are C20. Nos. 21 and 25 are each three bays wide, and Nos. 22-24 each have two bays. The stock brick buildings have recessed windows with red rubbed brick flat arches. The windows are largely C19 horned sashes, with C18 hornless sashes surviving on the upper floors of No. 24. The windows of Nos. 22 and 23 are modern reproductions of the C18 originals. A moulded cornice, painted white, runs from 21-24. The slate roof has a transversal central valley and retains its brick chimneys.

INTERIOR: Substantial sections of the staircases survive in Nos. 21, 24 and 25; these have plain stick balusters, a simple moulded handrail and a large newel post. No. 21 has some dado panelling in the stairwell and the hallway has an arch and simple pilasters in timber and the original cornice. There are window boxes, dado panelling, dado rail, skirting boards and cornice in the front room of the first floor flat and its back room contains all the original C18 features, save the fireplace. In No. 24 there is C18 window casing, some shutters, a moulded timber mantelshelf, and fragments of panelling and architraves. The first floor window boxes, shutters, under-window panelling and some cornices survive in No. 25. Nos. 22-23 have been laterally converted and refurbished and have replacement staircases and windows.

HISTORY: The Portman Estate was developed on land stretching from Oxford Street to the Regent's Canal acquired by Sir William Portman in 1532. The area was still open fields in 1749, depicted as such on John Roque's map of London. From 1764 building began and by 1799 the map by Richard Horwood shows newly-laid out streets around Portman Square, just north of Oxford Street. The houses were built by private and speculative builders on leaseholds, although the Estate dictated the lines of streets and the open spaces.

New Quebec Street dates from the 1780s or 1790s. The houses appear on Horwood's map of 1799 and represent the development of the land westwards from Portman Square which led on to the construction of Bryanston Square in 1810.

SUMMARY OF IMPORTANCE: 21-25 New Quebec Street is of special architectural interest as a modest late C18 terrace built between the planned squares, Portman and Bryanston, of the Portman Estate. The architectural quality of the upper storeys is good, with fine rubbed flat brick arches and a few remaining original sash windows; there is also piecemeal survival of joinery inside. As a terrace of the late C18, the relative rarity of the type mitigates the loss of the ground floors which have been replaced with shop fronts in the C20. The terrace is also of historic significance as a part of an estate development of note. While there is a clear difference between the squares and the small streets like New Quebec Street in between them, the latter considerably enhance the setting of the former. 21-25 has group value with Nos. 1, 4, 7 and 14-19 New Quebec Street and Nos. 10-20 and 19 Seymour Street, all listed at Grade II.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q27087147

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)
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair by Hunt. Roger ( 2008 ) Hardcover
• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Handbook 2 Books Bundle Collection (Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair,Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability)
• 
  Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Drawing up a Local Listed Building Consent Order: Historic England Advice Note 6