Re: Re: ‘Dutch Billys’

This terrace at 87 – 91 Stephen’s Green again:

The two Georgianized ‘Billys’ at nos. 87 and 88 are still legible with their string courses, early doorcase designs, and the surviving attic storey window arrangement on no. 87 and they equate quite well with Malton’s depiction of the terrace in 1798.

As drawn by Malton, no. 88 had a pair of attic storey windows matching no. 87 [ok, half hidden behind the tree] which it appears not to have had, but the real departure from reality, unfortunately, appears to be his depiction of no. 91.

Malton depicts no. 91 as a very tall, five storey, elegent, very correctly ‘Dutch’ gabled house, with just a hint of a pillastered treatment to a three bay facade topped by a beautifully proportioned pedimented gable, apparently matched also on the rear elevation.

This 1832 drawing, published in one of the earliest records of the Georgian Society, shows the terrace just before nos. 89, 90 and 91 were demolished to be replaced by the present, late Georgian, houses. In this drawing, no. 91, though clearly altered at this stage, does not really offer any corroboration of Malton’s depiction, although there is a hint of grandness in a Venetian window on the first floor.

We know Malton took licence with background [and foreground for that matter] buildings, but the question is, did he take a house type from elsewhere in the streetscape, possibly near by, or did he just make it up for compositional reasions?

We know from reading his accompanying texts that Malton didn’t care much for gabled houses, so my guess is that he didn’t completely make it up, my guess is that he knew the composition needed a bit of punch and he pulled an authentic existing house design [a bit like Barker] from somewhere else in the Dublin streetscape.

Where are we going to find the best match for this house?