Description

Circa 1855. Pair of semi-detached 2-storey, 2-bay L-plan plain classical houses. Coursed ashlar, harled and painted. Heavy projecting architraved eaves course. Projecting base course and moulded window margins.

N (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: No 18: door to ground floor right, architraved surround and scroll bracketed canopy terminating in stepped plaque; to left single window with architraved surround and projecting lintel. 2 regularly placed bays to 1st floor; moulded eaves course projecting E beyond line of building. No 20: as No 18 but ground floor window / door position reversed; moulded eaves course projecting W beyond line of building.

E ELEVATION: adjoining lower terrace (No 10 - 16).

S (REAR) ELEVATION: not seen, 2001.

W ELEVATION: architraved door surround leading to adjoining house and service passage way to extreme left of ground floor, blind to rest of elevation broken only at attic level by gutter.

Later 2-pane replacement glazing to No 18 with 2-pane timber sash and case windows to No 20. Piended grey slate roof with lead ridge and flashings, cast-iron 2-pane Carron light to left of centre near ridge. Brick gablehead stack and skews shared with lower terrace to E, stack and skews to W gable missing. Concealed guttering to front elevation, following side elevation of building with down pipes to rear.

INTERIOR: retaining some original timber features, i.e. skirting boards and doors. No 18 now in use as business premises.

Statement of Interest

Named after the Duke of Portland, this road contained part of the route for the original "tram road" between Kilmarnock and Troon. The terminus was at the E end of the Road where it joins the present St Marnock Street and the line passed where Nos. 6 & 8 Portland Road now stand. Originally, St Marnock Street stretched from King Street to the Railway Bridge at Irvine Road until part of it was re-named Portland Road. This particular pair of houses, like the terrace adjoining to the E, was part of planned housing in the development of the road, which was opened up properly between 1855 and 1870. These early buildings were built some time between the 1849 map of the Duke of Portland's property being printed and the 1857 Ordnance Survey map of the same area. Until this point there were few houses, the route being primarily rural leading to large country villas and farms. The houses are now used for commercial and business purposes, as well as residential use.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17791999

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Hampshire: Winchester and the North (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Handbook 2 Books Bundle Collection (Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair,Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability)
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990: Updated version
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)