Re: Re: ‘Dutch Billys’

Well I don’t understand the ‘gunter against the world’ line you push on this thread. It is known that the city was largely gabled prior to the Georgian period and, yes, that it was culturally significant in that it didn’t happen in London but instead took from northern mainland Europe. It is known that many of these houses remain in some form, and examples have been conserved – eg. 25 Eustace Street and 66 Capel Street (and the gabled tradition has worked its way into all sorts of awful ‘tributes’ around the city too). Others have been fought for in vain – eg. the epic battle to save the fully panelled 95 Capel Street in 1993. In the case of Eustace Street and Capel Street, interiors were extensively intact, with their funny little features like timber box cornicing and the ‘window seat’ (which have hardly been discussed at all on this thread), and that served as impetus for their consevation. But what do you do with anonymous shells on Mary Street?

Btw re your Fitzwilliam Street “one damned house” reference, I am not arguing against these houses, merely pointing out that a large number are just shells. I watched numerous dissappear in the early noughties on the Smithfield / Queen Street block for Smithfield Market and it’s always sad. I am just being realistic.