It is a great red-brick house - that is, the front is of brick, with corbie steps on the gables and a text over the door; but the courtyard into which the omnibus drives is of black and white 'cage-work' in wood and plaster.
One of the steps in which a gable wall is often finished in place of a continuous slope; also called crowstep
{i} (Architecture) stair that rises above roof level along the sides of a gable wall