Other

Streatham Street model houses

Inscription

{On the first floor frieze above the door:}
Model houses for families"

Site: Streatham Street model houses (1 memorial)

WC1, Streatham Street, Parnell House

There is no plaque (2022) but this is any important building so we decided to collect it.

Originally called 'Streatham Street Buildings' these are said to be the earliest surviving social housing flats in the world. RIBA has a drawing and plan dated at 1845.

European Route of Industrial Heritage gives "The most distinctive form of working-class housing in 19th century London was the multi-storey apartment block, built originally by charitable societies, and from the 1890s by public authorities. The prototype for such blocks was the Sailors’ Home in Well Street, Whitechapel (now demolished), opened in 1835 and designed by Henry Roberts (1803-76) the architect who set the pattern for philanthropic housing schemes in London, and influenced developments in Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Russia. In 1844 Roberts was a founder member of the Society for Improving the Condition of the Labouring Classes, for whom he built a set of Model Dwellings in Pentonville in 1844, and a model lodging house off Drury Lane in 1846. Both have been demolished, but his next project for the Society, a group of dwellings for 48 families in three blocks built around a courtyard in Streatham Street ... remains. Access to the apartments is by wrought-iron balconies, they are of fireproof construction, and each, at the time of construction, had its own water closet, a revolutionary feature for working class dwellings in England. Roberts went on to design the Model Houses shown at the Great Exhibition, now re-erected in Kennington Park Road, and several other blocks of apartments, but his career was cut short by scandal, and after 1853 he spent most of his time in Italy."

'Scandal' caught our eye and we found an explanation at Scottish Architects: "In 1847 he had married the daughter of a Russian nobleman, Catherine de Swetschine, but by 1853 {aged 50} he was engaged in an indiscreet liaison with a working class lady described as 'a member of the lower orders'." And for that it seems he was lost to architecture for the next 26 years until his death in Florence.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

Nearby Memorials

Dita Brenchley gate

Dita Brenchley gate

SW7, Ennismore Gardens

This gate donated in loving memory of Dita Brenchley.

1 subject commemorated
St Benedict's Hospital - turret + portico

St Benedict's Hospital - turret + portico

SW17, Limetree Walk

This reminds us of that scene at the end of Planet of the Apes.

1 subject commemorated
Mary Queen of Scots House

Mary Queen of Scots House

EC4, Fleet Street, 143-4, Mary Queen of Scots House

A nearby pub sign says "the building next door, Mary Queen of Scots House was built in 1905. The statue of Mary Stuart a romantic idea of...

1 subject commemorated
Magic Square

Magic Square

WC1, John Street, 21, Haines House

Not your standard Bloomsbury terrace, this Art Deco development has always interested us but now it's got us really puzzled. We've notic...

St Marys Newington - Faraday

St Marys Newington - Faraday

SE1, Newington Butts, Garden

Three churches and two clock towers have been built on this site, but nothing remains today. A modern information board (which you can se...

1 subject commemorated

Previously viewed

First match of association football

First match of association football

The first official game played to Football Association rules took place in Battersea Park. It was played between teams selected by the President (Arthur Pember) and the Secretary (Ebenezer Cobb Mor...

Event, Sport / Games

1 memorial
John Penfold

John Penfold

Surveyor and architect. Born John Wornham Penfold in Haslemere, Surrey. He was a founding member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and is best known for designing the British hexagona...

Person, Architecture, Craft / Design

2 memorials
Laerke Caecilie Bodker

Laerke Caecilie Bodker

Non-British, killed by the Bali bomb.

Person, Tragedy

1 memorial
Northumberland House - Charing Cross

Northumberland House - Charing Cross

Sited just to the east of Charing Cross and Nelson's column, where Northumberland Avenue and Waterstones now (2024) are. The picture source, Wikipedia, has a very useful map, but there we also read...

Building, Property

1 memorial
Dr. John Snow

Dr. John Snow

Pioneer anaesthetist and epidemiologist. Born North Street in York. The site given as the source for the picture of Snow is an excellent site.

Person, Medicine

6 memorials