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Many of the houses in Fassett Square retain a lot of their interior period features. (These notes are based on number 25).
As you enter the house from the front door, the first thing to notice is the plaster cornice around the top of the hallway walls, complemented by two sets of brackets above the front reception room door. The hallway and two reception rooms on this floor are 10ft tall. These taller rooms also have plaster ceiling roses, with a repeated leaf motif. Next, the stair case is the most imposing feature of the ground floor. See right Illustration. The hand rail twists and turns all the way up to the fourth landing. There are in all, on average, 75 wooden balusters. Standing at the foot of the stairs you can peer up through the centre and see the handrail winding its way right to the top, where it is silhouetted by the skylight.
Moving into the reception rooms, there are twin marble chimney pieces, and their circular iron grates. The front reception rooms is also dominated by the huge bay window. It has a large square wooden surround, that frames the protruding bay. A lot of the houses in the Square have retained, or replaced with copies, the original wooden shutters, that fold back into large cavities in the frame. Other wood work to notice includes the large square frame that separates the front and back receptions, also the high skirting boards.
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Finally, the houses are much larger on the inside than they seem from outside. Due to an extra, hidden, floor at the top and rear extension.
Top right : A candle sconce, found in the cellar of number 25. Right : Decorative details of the hand rail on the ground floor, typical of Victorian staircases. Photos * XXV : J.Boakes
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