Decorating Aybrook Street

Aybrook Street is a handsome residential street in the Portman Estate quarter of Marylebone, W1U, running between George Street and Blandford Street within one of the most coherent Georgian and early-Victorian planned neighbourhoods in central London. The street is lined with brick-fronted Georgian town houses of four and five storeys, featuring characteristic Marylebone detailing of stone cills, simple cornices, and original or sympathetically restored sash windows set in stock-brick facades. The Portman Estate maintains strict design controls over this area, which also falls within the Portman Estate Conservation Area designated by Westminster City Council.

The Portman Estate's design guidance for Aybrook Street and surrounding streets restricts external paint to lime-washes or masonry paints in approved shades, with particular attention to front door colours, which must accord with the estate's palette of traditional Georgian and Regency hues including Doric whites, stone greens, and deep blues. Interior decoration in these Georgian town houses frequently involves restoring original joinery — including panelled shutters, marble fireplace surrounds, and dentil cornices — where a light hand and specialist restoration skills produce the most enduring results.