Re: Re: ‘Dutch Billys’

It is difficult to know for sure about the Baronstrand Street houses, you’d like there to be at least one other characteristic.

As we looked at before, Chernley shows Baronstrand Street fully gabled in his c 1748 view, but then again he shows the houses to be three storey, including attic.

On the other hand the two houses south of the RC cathedral are on the side of the street hidden from Chearnley’s view and, pinched-in top storey windows are otherwise difficult to explain especially in the case of four storey houses that were clearly built with some prestige in mind.

The Lady Lane house will definitely merit a closer look, pity it seems to be ‘sale agreed’ or we could probably masquerade as potential buyers and book a viewing. There appear to have been a number of high profile residents of Lady Lane in the 18th century, at least two of them holding the position of ‘Recorder’ in Waterford Corporation, perhaps no. 22 belonged to one of these gents. I don’t suppose anyone down there in the sunny south east has some local knowledge they’d like to share . . . maybe narrow the search down a little bit.

Still in Waterford, that five-bay house that was rebuilt three times and now forms part of the Granville Hotel, and which we postulated was originally one of the broad single-gabled mansions shown in Van der Hagen’s view of the Waterford Quays, it turns out originally had one of those scrolled pediment doorways like no. 10 Mill Street, as seen in this view of a Bianconi coach pulling up to Commin’s Hotel as it then was in the 1850s.

It’s a pity the artist couldn’t have stood back another few feet [OK I know there’s a drop] and shown us the top of the house.