Georgian building on the corner of Dean Street and Meard Street. — 69 Dean Street, City of Westminster, London. © Historic England / Contribution by David Lovell. View the List entry.

69 Dean Street, City of Westminster, London. © Historic England / Contribution by David Lovell. View the List entry.

3: 69 and 70 Dean Street

As you now know, the Georgians loved the ancient temples of Greece and Rome. This love developed into academic theories of proportion and symmetry, and the front of your house had to obey these 'rules' if anyone was going to take you seriously. The square, in particular, was considered the key to architectural beauty.

69 and 70 Dean Street. | View the List entry.

Squares

Proportions based on squares were used to determine the size of windows and their relation to each other. If a town house was three bays wide (in this instance, bay means window), then the space occupied by the first and second floor windows should form a square.

Annotated drawing of 69 Dean Street showing 19th century warehouse windows, cornice and the square features of the building.

The square. | View explanation of terms in the glossary.

You can see this square rule on number 70. The square of six windows sits between two pilasters and below the rather grand cornice (ignore the warehouse windows above the cornice, this was a late 19th century renovation when the building was a printing house. The sill bands would also have been a later addition).

Annotated drawing of 69 Dean Street showing blind window, sill bands and rusticated ground floor features on the building.

69 Dean Street. | View explanation of terms in the glossary.

This square and sense of measured proportion is especially apparent when compared with the visual chaos at number 69. The distance between windows is all over the place, possibly due to renovations at one time or another.

Next stop: 33 and 33a Dean Street

3: 69 and 70 Dean Street

Squares

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