Faded Greenwich (16)
I have absolutely no idea who L. Brooks was or what they did. Roger spotted this on the side of a house at the top of Devonshire Drive and I’ve done my best to make it clearer but I suspect it’s already too far gone to really tell much at all from it. Every so often if I look at it really fast, I think I can almost make out that top line but – no – it’s gone again.
One thing I love about these faded signs is that windows never seemed to be an issue for the painters – they just did their design around them, rather than making putting them above or below the obstruction to their art. Maybe they just didn’t have a long enough ladder – or a head for heights…
That second word in the top line looks like "studio"?
Roan Studio I should think, as ex Roan girl!
Yes, I'm pretty certain the words making up the top line were Roan's and Studio.
The word at the bottom right corner was Lane, with a painted arrow next to it, which seemed to be pointing readers of the sign to somewhere within a short walking distance.
I couldn't work it myself, but I'd guess the lower part of the sign might be saying 'go to xxx Lane'
Maybe if you can view the Goad Maps of the area for a relevant year in the past you could find the address and therefore name (Goad maps are records of the businesses in an area and are generally spaced a few years apart from each other, so say 5 years apart – you can go back through time and locate a businesses address using these)
Peter
Goad maps are facinating and are really detailed too. Well worth a visit to the British Library just so you get to pour over them. Sadly it costs something like 20 quid to take away a single photo copy though so it's worth taking a pencil and pad to take notes.
On the window question, I think the left-hand window was put in afterwards – it is a different height and size to the right-hand window, and doesn't have the dovetailed brickwork (builders will know the correct word for this) above it.
At the turn of the last century the house was a lady photographer's studio according to records on the 1901 census.