[1] This building was constructed as a two-storeyed brick row of six houses in 1888–1889 by Brisbane builder Joseph Blain Cook.

The enterprise reflected the economic optimism of the late 1880s, but within two years of construction Cook was declared insolvent and the terrace passed to his mortgagees.

[1] By 1895 the row was known as Milton Terrace, and with its river views and breezes and proximity to the centre of town, it remained one of Brisbane's more prestigious rental addresses until well into the twentieth century, attracting mainly professional and white-collar tenants.

[1] By 1920 each house had been subdivided into at least two flats, and builder Simon Smith, who acquired the property in 1923, may have been responsible for removing the front parapet and installing dormer windows.

[1] The attics are contained within a corrugated iron mansard roof, which is divided by continuations of the party walls, which also separate the front and back verandahs.

The latter appear to have been added at a later date, and a high front parapet of repeating circles, which partly obscured the roof, probably was removed at the same time.

[1] The front elevation is unified by supporting timber posts and capitals with cast-iron valances, brackets and balustrading, much of which has been replaced but not to the original pattern, along ground and first floors.

[1] Interior finishes to each house include cedar joinery, plastered walls, marble fireplace surrounds in the ground floor rooms and tessellated entrance tiles.

[1] Around the turn of the century the western house was remodelled to include: a verandah extension with decorative timber elements of the Federation period along the side wall; a "dome room" rear addition which features a high coffered ceiling with arched timber ribs, 4-inch (100 mm) tongue-and-groove lining boards, chair rail, and fireplace with its original picture tiles; and pressed metal ceilings and ornamental pillars with capitals in the archway of the two ground floor rooms.

[1] Cook Terrace is situated on one of the busiest arterial roads linking the western suburbs with the centre of the city.

The river view remains undisturbed, and the mature fig tree in the grounds at the corner of Park Road and Coronation Drive contributes to the nineteenth century ambience.

[1] The continuation of the masonry party walls above the roof line, is an uncommon type of construction in attached row housing in Brisbane.