Re: Re: ‘Dutch Billys’

One of the real gems of the city.

Going down under again, Cork has some very good intact gabled houses of the simple triangular tradition. A vernacular once commonplace in most urban centres that people found difficult to shake off long after the arrival of the classical taste.

This gem in on Margaret Street, just off George’s Quay. A simple, unpretentious expression with early exposed sash boxes.

And beautifully maintained (with the exception of a newly inserted sneaky PVC stairwell window, gah).

As can be seen, it also features a typical closet return.

These marvellous specimens up on Shandon Street are distinctly English in character. Presumably they emerged at the same time as the new St. Anne’s of Shandon in the 1720s.

It is difficult to make out if the end house’s gable was altered at a later date. Possibly not, as the house gets engulfed to the rear by more ancient housing, suggesting it may always have been a one-off.

The remarkable side elevation, showing a partially built up triangular gable to the right.

More wonderful houses directly across the road. The roofs here are truly enormous, as also seen in the distance in the picture above.

There seems to be little effort made to design these as a unified composition. Perhaps the common case of a builder building two houses and living in the larger one himself.

Even houses with a Victorian veneer are clearly early in date, as with this pair with their paired gables and tiny windows at first floor level.

To the rear they feature an enormous shared return.

Alas my battery died up on Shandon Steeple, so the opportunity to get rear snaps went up in smoke 😡

Even 19th century houses surrounding the former Butter Market take their cue from the grand old dames of the area.