Description

William Beattie, 1908. 2-storey and attic, 3-bay villa on raised terrace. Rough-faced coursed grey granite, finely finished to margins at NE elevation; granite rubble to remainder. Base course; 1st floor cill course; overhanging eaves; timber bargeboards; half-timbered gableheads with pebble dash.

NE (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: asymmetrical; doorway to centre of ground floor, 2-leaf panelled timber door flanked by glazed and leaded panels and fanlight, leaded inner door, window to right of ground floor, timber balcony oversailing, window to left of 1st floor, flanked to right by doorway with upper sash; Venetian dormer to attic; polygonal angle tower through ground and 1st floors of outer right angle, surmounted by steeply swept spire with weathervane; gabled bay advanced to left, 4-light canted window to ground floor, with piended roof surmounted by iron brattishing, tripartite window to 1st floor above, bipartite leaded window set in gablehead.

NW ELEVATION: gabled.

SW ELEVATION: asymmetrical; 3-bay; regular fenestration to ground and 1st floors of 2 bays to right, timber conservatory to ground floor of bay to left, bipartite window to 1st floor above, rectangular dormer to attic floor.

SE ELEVATION: doorway to centre of ground floor, flanked to left by 2 irregular windows and to right by 2 round-arched stained glass windows, decorative stained glass window to 1st floor above, flanked to left by small single window, gablet off-centre to right.

2-pane timber sash and case windows to ground floor, sash and case windows with small pane upper sashes to 1st floor. Rosemary tiled roof with pierced terracotta ridges. Coped gablehead stacks with circular cans. Cast-iron rainwater goods.

INTERIOR: not seen 2000.

STEPS, GATEPIERS AND BOUNDARY WALLS: stone steps flanked by low walls surmounted by spherical finials to NE; square-plan obelisk gatepiers with shallow pyramidal caps to NE, low granite walls between; brick and granite coped rubble walls to remainder.

Statement of Interest

Forest Road is built on the site of Stocket Forest, hence the appropriate name which was chosen by Sir Alexander Anderson, Lord Provost at the time. From the beginning of the 19th century Aberdeen rapidly expanded westwards from Union Street. 26 Forest Road is part of the later 19th/early 20th century development W of Queen's Cross. Stocket Forest was originally part of the estate of Rubislaw. In 1877 Rubislaw Estate was bought by the City of Aberdeen Land Association, who re-aligned Skene Road (which was renamed Queen's Road) and sold off the estate in smaller plots. Streets became wider and villas with substantial gardens often replaced terraces. Prestigious architects, such as William Beattie, were often employed to produce bold and unusual designs to reflect the wealth and individuality of the clients. 26 Forest Road is described by Brogden as a cosmopolitan building which "would be quite happy in Bournemouth" (p145). Features of note include the fine ironwork, balcony, decorative angle tower and stained glass.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17779978

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

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