I cannot image out "just at that point"

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Does "just at that point " mean "the entry of a court?"

What does "Two doors from one corner" mean?

Context:

It chanced on one of these rambles that their way led them down a by-street in a busy quarter of London. The street was small and what is called quiet, but it drove a thriving trade on the weekdays. The inhabitants were all doing well, it seemed and all emulously hoping to do better still, and laying out the surplus of their grains in coquetry; so that the shop fronts stood along that thoroughfare with an air of invitation, like rows of smiling saleswomen. Even on Sunday, when it veiled its more florid charms and lay comparatively empty of passage, the street shone out in contrast to its dingy neighbourhood, like a fire in a forest; and with its freshly painted shutters, well-polished brasses, and general cleanliness and gaiety of note, instantly caught and pleased the eye of the passenger.
Two doors from one corner, on the left hand going east the line was broken by the entry of a court; and just at that point a certain sinister block of building thrust forward its gable on the street. It was two storeys high; showed no window, nothing but a door on the lower storey and a blind forehead of discoloured wall on the upper; and bore in every feature, the marks of prolonged and sordid negligence. The door, which was equipped with neither bell nor knocker, was blistered and distained. Tramps slouched into the recess and struck matches on the panels; children kept shop upon the steps; the schoolboy had tried his knife on the mouldings; and for close on a generation, no one had appeared to drive away these random visitors or to repair their ravages.

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@oristarA,

Imagine if you will, a long street with well kept shops and businesses lining both sides of the street. At the end of one block, two buildings in from the corner, there is small entranceway or a driveway to a courtyard. At the point, or that particular place on the block lies a dark, unkept building that is very different from the rest.

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@Ceili,

Ceili wrote:

Imagine if you will, a long street with well kept shops and businesses lining both sides of the street. At the end of one block, two buildings in from the corner, there is small entranceway or a driveway to a courtyard. At the point, or that particular place on the block lies a dark, unkept building that is very different from the rest.

Thank you.

I think I've got a lcearer image from your description. But not absolutely clear. The context is from THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE by Robert Louis Stevenson. I wonder some one here would like to post a picture about these (like the question of "a square peg in a round hole", pictures show their great power to help understanding).

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Ok, here it goes. This isn't as easy as it looks... Wink

I've tried to find pictures that are true to the era of the book. This is what a block of houses/shops would have looked like. Notice the driveway to the inner courtyard.

http://www.hamptonestates.co.uk/pics/img4d9b050e7429c.jpeg

This picture is of a row of shops, on a quiet street, imagine they faced a row of similar buildings and shop fronts.These are fairly upkept, the middle one could use a fresh coat of paint...

http://members.madasafish.com/~cj_whitehound/family/artwork/Nicolson_Street.jpg

In this last picture there are two houses on the same block. Imagine a lane way, or a driveway was in between the two houses instead of a fence and bushes, with a courtyard tucked in behind. Imagine that the house to the right of the main one pictured, on the other side of the laneway(if it existed), there was a decrepit scary house with no windows, dark and dreary and a few bums sleeping on the front stoop. (doorway and stair area)

http://media.oblix.co.uk/images/large/2/5/4/3/25438747.large.1.jpg

The author is giving directions to the house. So, he describes the quiet well kept street of businesses, and on that quiet street there is a laneway, two buildings from the end of the block, and at that point, that very spot is the house in question.
Hope this helps.

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@Ceili,

Ceili wrote:

Ok, here it goes. This isn't as easy as it looks...
I've tried to find pictures that are true to the era of the book. This is what a block of houses/shops would have looked like. Notice the driveway to the inner courtyard.

This picture is of a row of shops, on a quiet street, imagine they faced a row of similar buildings and shop fronts.These are fairly upkept, the middle one could use a fresh coat of paint...

In this last picture there are two houses on the same block. Imagine a lane way, or a driveway was in between the two houses instead of a fence and bushes, with a courtyard tucked in behind. Imagine that the house to the right of the main one pictured, on the other side of the laneway(if it existed), there was a decrepit scary house with no windows, dark and dreary and a few bums sleeping on the front stoop. (doorway and stair area)

The author is giving directions to the house. So, he describes the quiet well kept street of businesses, and on that quiet street there is a laneway, two buildings from the end of the block, and at that point, that very spot is the house in question.
Hope this helps.

Thank you for your patience, Ceili.

According to your description, "two doors" (in "Two doors from one corner, on the left hand going east the line was broken by the entry of a court; and just at that point a certain sinister block of building thrust forward its gable on the street) means "two buildings?"

If so I got the question a bit more clearer.

Let me continue to think over it:

What's still boggled me is 'how to arrange the relationship between the "laneway or driveway" (the entry of the court?) and the " certain sinister block of building thrust forward its gable on the street?" ' Is the door on the gable is the entry (of laneway)? Or they stand side by side?

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This thread is not yet closed.

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@oristarA,

Each building has one door, so two doors would mean two buildings. So, if I was walking east on this block, or eastward along the row of buildings, two buildings from the corner there is a laneway. A laneway in this case would be a small road that would run north, to my left, between the second and third building. At the end of the lane way is a courtyard, perhaps a garden. After the lane way, sitting beside it, is another building, it is parallel to the first two buildings and the laneway. It's door faces the road. The gable is at the peak of the roof, where the roof overhangs the building.

http://individual.utoronto.ca/negativesleep/baygable/baygable1.jpg

In the picture above there are four houses/buildings in a row. Each building has a door. Imagine walking left to right, heading east, parallel to the houses. The building on the far left is on the corner of the block. The laneway, in the middle - leading to the courtyard in the back, would be two buildings from the corner, or between houses two and three.
Just at this point, the greyish house with it's gabled roof can be found.

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@Ceili,

Thank you Ceili.

See the attached pic. Am I on the right track?

http://www.picupload.us/images/000001.jpg

The point is the entry of thelaneway?

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"At that point" is pinpointing where the house is, or the scary building. All the other stuff, the buildings, the lane way is describing the point or place you would find the house.
The "just" is the author's way of accentuating the obvious.

Say for example, if I wanted to tell you where I saw a car accident. I would probably describe everything around where the accident took place. I might say, "you know that bakery on the corner, the one across from the dry cleaners on First avenue, at that spot or at that point, is where the two cars collided. It's vague and yet specific. I'm not giving you the precise place, like a GPS direction, I'm describing the area.
I hope this helps. I'm not really sure what more I can add or whether I'm confusing you or not.

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@Ceili,

Ceili wrote:

"At that point" is pinpointing where the house is, or the scary building. All the other stuff, the buildings, the lane way is describing the point or place you would find the house.
The "just" is the author's way of accentuating the obvious.

Say for example, if I wanted to tell you where I saw a car accident. I would probably describe everything around where the accident took place. I might say, "you know that bakery on the corner, the one across from the dry cleaners on First avenue, at that spot or at that point, is where the two cars collided. It's vague and yet specific. I'm not giving you the precise place, like a GPS direction, I'm describing the area.I hope this helps. I'm not really sure what more I can add or whether I'm confusing you or not.

Which one is the scary house (the sinister block of building thrust forward its gable on the street)? A? B? C? D?

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@oristarA,

c, the 3rd house beside the laneway.

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@Ceili,

Ceili wrote:

c, the 3rd house beside the laneway.

Got it.

Thanks a lot.

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I cannot image out "just at that point"

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