Jump to content

JOIN OUR GAME!

Your Stories Await Telling

Guidebook: Picadilly Street


Recommended Posts

While not as prized district as St. James Square near Hyde Park, or Pall mall edging the St James' Park, residents of Piccadilly Street might be assured of noble neighbours, and so very close to all those convenient shops. After a careful investigation by the city council the houses had recently been renumbered.


 

Even Numbers

  • #2 Lucas House

The facade of the House is amass of dark green ivy vines, set amongst great oak trees whose pale green new leaves shimmer hopefully in the spring breeze. A small pond is set in the front yard, dappled with lily pads.  Four columns support a great roof over the front doors, which are fashionably designed with stained glass panels to either side.

The foyer was suitably grand matching the entrance: here two walls were wallpaper done in a random garden-like design over two  with the other covered in paint.   Several doors exit off the foyer, one to an office or another withdrawing room, and another to the Parlour.

The ceiling in the Parlour is high, with complimentary furnishings of green and rose. There was a small fireplace tucked into a corner.   Upstairs were 5 bedrooms, with servants quarters on the floor above. 

The dining room on the ground floor, kitchen, pantry out the back, with store-rooms in the basement.

 

  • #10 House for Sale/Rent

A modest two-story red brick building, with white shutters and accents, with a privacy hedge around the front garden. A gravel driveway leads through the front yard to the front door as well as curving right to the side of the house to lead to a small private stable behind the house.

There is a small patio before the dark-brown front door with a brass knocker gleaming on it. The back gardens appear to be well-kept, with plenty of fruit trees.

  • #18 House for Sale/Rent

The stone townhouse sits behind manicured hedges. Its front yard boasts a fountain sculpture of cupid hovering over a pairs of lovers. Built in the last ten years, the trees in its yard have yet to reach their fullness, a wide path leads arrivals directly to ominously large double doors. A very small garden, now unkempt from a lack of attention, lies behind the townhouse.

Inside the front door was an entry set with hall table with vase of fresh blooms. Springing from the entryway were two small rooms. To the right a study with bookshelf and comfortable mismatched chairs with a writing desk set near the window. To the left was the parlour, with cream settees with occasional tables scattered about. An English landscape sits above the fireplace.

Beyond the entry area was a formal room of grand proportion with broad staircase arising from it, though the room itself is minimally decorated with a scattering of chairs around a mat near the fire, and a piano at the far end. Passing through the grand room is a dining room with large table with an eclectic assortment of chairs, and beyond the dining room is the kitchen. There was a separate backstair in the kitchen for the servants.

The second floor contains three bedrooms. The third floor is for servants. There is a half cellar and half attic for storage.

 

  • #20 Emmendale, for sale

Behind a white picket fence supported (for further privacy) by a thick chest-height hedge one can see a modest two-story red brick building, with white shutters and accents. A gravel driveway leads through the rather Spartan front yard to the front door as well as curving right to the side of the house to lead to a small private stable behind the house. 

Two steps, with a small white statue of a sleeping cat, between two simple pillars create a small patio before the dark-brown front door with a brass knocker gleaming on it. Were one to enter, you would see a white and grey tiled floor, a staircase leading up and a door leading to a drawing room, decorated with red cherry wood furniture, green carpets and curtains and some grey and white accents to give the room a calmer air, a grand piano set prominently between two large windows that allow a glance at the luscious back garden. The first floor also houses a medium-sized dining room and a study, that’s notably lacking any and all books but the Bible in a shelve, but is full of drawings, random hand-drawn patterns, and different relics that had caught the house owners eye in various times and places. Up the grand staircase, covered with a dark-blue carpet, you’d find a number of bedrooms. 

  • #24 - Winchilsea House

An older granite house, set in a pretty park, with a short drive up to the colonnaded front entry.  The structure boasts three storeys, numerous chimneys, and a great many windows. At the rear of the house there are rose gardens and a glass house. The grounds appear far more warm and welcoming than the great stone house.[/list]

  • # 28 Vacant

An austere and impressive building set behind neatly trimmed hedges, the front grounds quite spartan, grand columns ascending the full height of the building. The front doors are a good twelve feet high opening into a black and white marble tiled foyer.

 A lesser known feature of the townhouse, is its full sized tennis court in out the back - though in recent years it has had little use, it is kept well maintained.

  • #34 - Newcastle  House - Residence of Lady Oakham

The stone townhouse sits behind manicured hedges. Its front yard boasts a fountain sculpture of cupid hovering over a pairs of lovers. Built in the last ten years, the trees in its yard have yet to reach their fullness, a wide path leads arrivals directly to ominously large double doors. A very small garden, now unkempt from a lack of attention, lies behind the townhouse.

Inside the front door was an entry set with hall table with vase of fresh blooms. Springing from the entryway were two small rooms. To the right a study with bookshelf and comfortable mismatched chairs with a writing desk set near the window. To the left was the parlour, with cream settees with occasional tables scattered about. An English landscape sits above the fireplace.

Beyond the entry area was a formal room of grand proportion with broad staircase arising from it, though the room itself is minimally decorated with a scattering of chairs around a mat near the fire, and a piano at the far end. Passing through the grand room is a dining room with large table with an eclectic assortment of chairs, and beyond the dining room is the kitchen. There was a separate backstair in the kitchen for the servants.

The second floor contains three bedrooms. The third floor is for servants. There is a half cellar and half attic for storage.

  • #38 - Residence of the Earl of Gowran

The residence is separated from the bustle of the street by a five foot tall brick wall. A carriage arch with ornate wrought-iron gates leads into the modest but elegant front garden. A gravel driveway forks towards a small stable with an attached carriage house. The facade of the two-story townhouse itself is plastered with lime, and the fashionable sash windows have been painted black for contrast. Above the massive walnut wood double door is a balcony with a wrought-iron balustrade, supported by four pillars, creating a small portico.

  • #40 Taigh nan Craobhan- Murray Residence

Taigh nan Craobhan (or House of the Trees in Scottish Gaelic) is the modest two-story townhouse of Dorset stone. The plain facade, complete with a neatly trimmed perimeter hedge in the front, is livened up by the white paint of the sash windows and the many fruit trees in the back garden. Varieties of pear, apple, cherry, and plum trees dot the country garden with falling blossoms in the spring. A small stable is set apart from the rest of the yard. The front door painted a deep maroon, and the stained glass panels flanking each side of it add a touch of elegance: vines of red roses climb up a background of blue glass.

Taigh nan Craobhan (or House of the Trees in Scottish Gaelic) is the modest two-story townhouse of Dorset stone. The plain facade, complete with a neatly trimmed perimeter hedge in the front, is livened up by the white paint of the sash windows and the many fruit trees in the back garden. Varieties of pear, apple, cherry, and plum trees dot the country garden with falling blossoms in the spring. A small stable is set apart from the rest of the yard. The front door painted a deep maroon, and the stained glass panels flanking each side of it add a touch of elegance: vines of red roses climb up a background of blue glass.

The first floor has plain, if well-kept, wooden floors and contains a kitchen that lies at the back of the house as well as a small reception room (with a mismatched array of chairs and a carved oak table that folds away when not in use), a practical dining room, and a neat though very small study (an oak writing desk and chair being the only things that will fit properly in the small space). The second floor contains two moderately sized bedrooms, one the master and one the guest though they are nearly the same size. The attic is used for servant quarters, including Stephen’s manservant Artair.

  • #42 House of Sir Bartholomew Hyde

The residence is separated from the bustle of the street by a five foot tall brick wall. A carriage arch with ornate wrought-iron gates leads into the modest but elegant front garden. A gravel driveway forks towards a small stable with an attached carriage house. The facade of the two-story townhouse itself is plastered with lime, and the fashionable sash windows have been painted black for contrast. Above the massive walnut wood double door is a balcony with a wrought-iron balustrade, supported by four pillars, creating a small portico.

 

Odd Numbers

  • #1  Langdon House

Located on the south corner of Picadilly, this large house seems almost out of place with the smaller town homes further up the block. Likely it is because it predates the development of Pall Mall and St. James Square.

Though the house shows signs of age from its Tudor origins, the walled grounds of two acres are well maintained, with a nice garden in back. There is an entry gate to the front, and a gate in the rear to the stables. A military man might appreciate the security of the perimeter.

The house has 3 levels plus an attic. The ground level hosts a small ballroom, parlor,dining room and study. The second floor hosts a masters BR, Missus BR, and a guest room. The third floor has three guest rooms, with the servants sleeping in the attic.

  • # 9 For Lease/Purchase

Pass the white fence supported for further privacy with a thick chest-height forsythia hedge (which has yellow blooms in the spring), one can see a modest two-story red brick building, with white shutters and accents. A gravel driveway leads through the rather Spartan front yard to the front door as well as curving right to the side of the house to lead to a small private stable behind the house.

Two steps between two pillars create a small patio before the dark-brown front door with a brass knocker gleaming on it. Were one to enter, you would see a white and grey tiled floor, a staircase leading up and a door leading to a drawing room, decorated with red cherry wood furniture, green carpets and curtains and some grey and white accents to give the room a calmer air. Two chairs are set prominently between two large windows that allow a glance at the luscious back garden. The first floor also houses a dining room and a study that's full of various books in English, French, and Latin, as well as a few in Italian and German to aide Francis in his efforts to become fluent. If one were to peruse closely, one would note that many are historical, about swordsmanship or baton, or mathematical in nature. There are several model ships of interesting and atypical designs, clearly not of the typical Dutch design. Prominently displayed like a tapestry on the wall are sewn together Dutch ensigns left over from his conquests in the 3rd naval war. Upon the desk sits an intricately designed, filigree silver plate, the sort one might receive as a christening present. Up the grand staircase, covered with a dark-blue carpet, you'd find a number of bedrooms

  • #11 House of Dorset (formerly Middlesex)

This red brick townhome with black shutters is the home of the infamous Earl of Middlesex, now Lord Dorset after the death of his father. A black wrought-iron fence surrounds the modest front yard. In the back is a well-tended garden and a small fountain with a statue of Venus in the center.

  • #13   Vacant 

The Brentwood town house was commissioned many years ago when the lady of the house was quite the socialite - and boasts a sweeping crushed drive way to expedite the arrival of carriages with guests.

Ivy has grown up the walls of the tall building, and a glorious display of flowers bring brightness to its sober lines. Within its manicured grounds are intermittently placed sculptures of frolicsome scenes of children at play.

  • #17  For Sale

A square, two-story, red-brick dwelling encompassed with a dark-green lawn, in turn surrounded with a waist-high, wrought iron fence. A small, white porch extended from the front doors and connected to the cobble-stone path which traveled from the porch to the front fence without the slightest turn. Four ash trees stood symmetrically around the path, partially obscuring the first floor of the building from the street and providing shade over the path to the front door.

Two large windows stood on each side of the main door, revealing a music room on one side and a sitting room on the other. Three smaller windows provided views from the upstairs rooms over the trees and onto the city beyond.

  • #19 Chatham Residence

A tidy house built of red brick, Number 19 sits some distance back from the street and is approached via a curving drive that bissects a neat, well-manicured lawn.

It is Jacobean in design with contrasting sandstone trim and several heavily paned bow windows overlooking both the front yard and the rustic garden to be found at the house's rear. Informal, this garden has been planted with several bushes of red and pink roses, some beds of spring bulbs, and, surprisingly, perhaps, a very well-kept physic garden close to the house. An ancient, gnarled oak tree boasts pride of place at the very center of the garden and an ornate, circular, ironwork bench has been constructed around the tree's trunk to make use of the copious amounts of shade offered by the canopy of leafy foliage. Surrounded by a brick wall, the garden is partitioned from the small stable and coach house though both can be accessed via a small door hidden behind a curtain of trailing ivy.

To enter the townhome, one must present oneself to the panelled black door and make use of the silver door-knocker in the shape of a shell.

  • #25 - Townhouse for Sale

Situated on the northern side of east Piccadilly, Number 75 is a luxurious town home whose style of construction proclaims it to be a recent addition to the street. Built from slabs of dark granite it boasts two stories: The first floor rises in piano nobile over a rusticated ground story, its facade embellished with contrasting white trim and faux columns, while the second floor stands quite simple by comparison.

Within the stone archway is the carved black wooden doorway, with a long tinted glass window to one side of the door that depicts a colorful peacock. An iron wrought lantern hangs for light, and a mass of thick ivy surmounts the stonework, climbing up and over the arch.

There is a 6 foot tall ironwork 'pike topped' fence mounted in a 12 inch tall concrete ‘base strip’ , both extending around the house on all sides. The front gate of the black ironwork fence is locked at all times, but there is a sign on the gate that reads 'Shake gate and please wait - guard dog'. Callers will be greeted very politely by a property guard who arrives in the company of a guard dog., but there is a 9 inch by 12 inch 'pass through slot, with a wooden box on the inner side of the fence for those who need to leave items and do not wish to wait.

A 4 foot tall by 2 foot wide yew box hedge lines the fence on the street side of the house, divided by the fence gate and stone walkway that lead up to the house itself. 5 foot tall juniper hedges edge each side of the yard and extend down both sides of the house, 2 small alcoves carved into the bulk of the bushes in which are tucked granite sculptures of nymphs. Flanking either side of the front of the house are two perfectly matched cherry trees, their branches kept trim and neat by the careful shears of a devoted gardener. 3 foot tall brick planters sit on either side of the front doorway with a small narrow arbor on either side of the house where the hedges end. An 8 foot wide, '3 tier' circular planter also of brick is centered on either side of the front walkway. Upon each side of the house where the arbor ends, 5 foot tall x 2 foot wide hawthorn hedges begin, hugging the fence closely, on the western side extending as far as the small carriage house, and also lining the eastern side of the yard and extending all along the rear fence of the garden.

Beginning before the rear end of the house, 12 trees encircle the rear garden, each planted just in front of the hedge with flower beds at their bases, their branches beginning at the very height the hedges leave off at, the limbs of each intertwined with its neighbor, to create a tall ‘screen of green’. At the center of the garden stands a rectangular reflecting pool that has been enlivened by the addition of carp and goldfish. To either side of the pond, situated between the trees and before the hedges is a stone bench. In the northwestern-most corner of the rear yard, between the hedges and the trees, is a small carriage house that has a 4 foot tall brick planter on one side.

  • #29 Townhouse of John Manners, Lord Roos

The two-story townhouse of weathered grey stone occupies a 1 acre property fenced with wrought iron. In some places,the navy blue paint of the window sashes & trim is peeling and in need of attention. The front lawn is neat but sparse, ornamented only by a few box hedges and a large oak tree. There is a semi-circular carriage drive to the front door as well as a path leading to the small stable & carriage house in the back. On the first floor there is a parlor, library/office, a small dining room, and in the back, the kitchen. A creaking stair leads to the second floor, where there are a total of 3 bedrooms. Servant’s quarters are located in the attic. There is also a small garden in the back of the home with a some flowering shrubs and a couple of marble benches positioned to admire a statue of the Three Graces dancing hand-in-hand.

  • #33 The House of Patterson - currently Vacant

 The house was plastered with light blue, edged with creme to frame each square. It was a recent adaptation to make it fit the fashion of the times which had a taste for the geometrical. The front garden had a small drive just off the street with a front garden filled with small low hedges creating flower beds that were just coming to bloom in early May.

The front door held a cord with a brass bell. Inside it opened into a whitely tiled floor and a large stairways with a red carpet. Downstairs one would fit a parlor, a dining room and a very pleasant gardenroom, opening a view to what one would call a country garden full of flowers in summer. Even now, with the garden still awakening there was a pleasant scent coming from the rosemary and sage brushes. The wine ranks were starting to reveal their green leaves, promising to give a nice yield of table grapes in September as well as nice shadow during the summer months.

The rest of the house was simple and austere, but made with the best materials, giving off the impression of wealth.

  • #35 The Townhouse of Viscount Baintree

A red brick townhouse stands midst manicured lawns and neatly trimmed flowerbeds with an impressive variety of roses. Departing from the main path to the front door, a side path weaves away on a meandering path, as though inviting visitors to take a tour of the gardens first.

A broad flight of twelve steps lead up to the front door - the doorknocker features as a lions head with a large ring held in its mouth fashioned from brass.

  • #41  Townhouse of Lady Cambray

The geometric lines of the House stand stark against a neatly cropped lawn - it's gardens comprised of neatly trimmed hedges in the shapes of various mythological beasts. Beneath the Echidna tree is a marble bench from which the garden's design is optimally viewed - where upon in the dusk and a gentle breeze granting susurration to the leaves, the garden seems to come alive with excitement and adventure.

A sweeping arched driveway enters from one gateway and exeunt through the other, that carriages might drive right up to the steps that lead up to the house.

  • #43 The Townhouse of Lady Kendishall

Located on the south corner of Picadilly, this large house seems almost out of place with the smaller town homes further up the block. Likely it is because it predates the development of Pall Mall and St. James Square.

 Though the house shows signs of age from its Tudor origins, the walled grounds of two acres are well maintained, with a nice garden in back. There is an entry gate to the front, and a gate in the rear to the stables. A military man might appreciate the security of the perimeter.

 The house has 3 levels plus an attic. The ground level hosts a small ballroom, parlor,dining room and study. The second floor hosts a masters BR, Missus BR, and a guest room. The third floor has three guest rooms, with the servants sleeping in the attic.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...