Recorded in 2005 by Tyne and Wear Museums in advance of converting back to residential use. The Espanade was designed by local architect Martin Greener from 1853 on land that was formerly part of the Mowbray inheritance. Construction appears to have been piecemeal. Nos 1 and 9 were built first, then Nos. 2 and 3, then No. 4 and lastly Nos. 5-8. The neo-classical façade is well preserved. Major structural additions are restricted to the rear of the properties. The interiors have been more comprehensively altered, particularly with new access routes inserted between the individual houses, insertion of partitions and the conversion of the basment of No. 1 into an ARP Report Centre during World War 2. The only extant building in Sunderland that can be assigned to Martin Greener. Built during a period when the growth of the urban middle classes nationally coincided with the growing importance of Sunderland as an industrial centre. Internally there is significant survival of many features which appear to be part of the original decorative scheme. Previous occupants include industrialists such as Samuel Tyzack (iron founder), John Craven (wire rope manufacturer) and John Dickinson (marine engineer); political figures such as Sir Walter Raine (Conservative MP for Sunderland 1922-24), Edward Capper Robinson (miller and first president of Sunderland Liberal Association 1876-85) and Samuel Austin (shipbuilder and Liberal candidate in 1885 General Election).