Description

Charles Edward and Thomas Saunders Robertson, dated 1862; extension at W by James Findlay, 1908. 2 storey, attic and semi-basement, irregular-plan, French/baronial-style villa. Snecked rubble; grey slate roof, fishscale and diamond pattern at porch and towers. Base course; single and bipartite windows with stop-chamfered margins, some with mullions removed and majority with out-of-keeping alloy frames; exposed rafters at gables, bracketted eaves at square and round towers.

E ELEVATION: 4-bay. Pitched entrance porch at off-centrere-entrant, decorative bargeboards, 'TAYCLIFF 1862' incised at gable, bipartite window at left return. 3-storey tower bay at right with windows at all floors, including 1st and 2nd floor left re-entrants; flat-top pyramidal roof (brattishing missing). Bay at far right with bipartite window at ground floor, single at 1st, pointed window at attic. Window at recessed bay at far left, 2 windows symmetrically placed at 1st floor, gabled dormer, shouldered stack.

S ELEVATION: asymmetrical. Central bay with window at ground and 1st floors, bipartite gabled dormer. Round angle tower at left with 3 windows at ground and 1st floor, rasied wallhead level, conical roof with weathervane finial. Later recessed bay at far left with 2 windows at ground floor, gable dormerhead at 1st. Advanced gable at far left; 4-light canted window at ground floor, bipartite at 1st, pointed window at attic; segmental bay at left re-entrant with door to basement, window at ground and 1st floor.

N ELEVATION: 2-bay. Off-centre door at left, window at 1st floor; projecting conservatory at right, 2 windows at 1st floor; M gable roof.

INTERIOR: richly patterned encaustic tile floor in porch; decorative cornice and plasterwork and some original chimneypieces.

GATEPIERS AND BOUNDARY WALL: 2 circular-section rubble gatepiers with pyramidal caps, round-coped rubble boundary wall at N.

Statement of Interest

The copy titles show the architect Charles Edward as owner 1863-67. Taycliff commands a cliff-top site overlooking the Tay and forms an important picturesque feature on the skyline; the house has been sub-divided into 3 units and the loss of brattishing, some mullions and the replacemtn of timber with alloy window frames has significantly diminished the character of the building.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q56630409

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.

Recommended Books

• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bristol (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  The Shredded Chef: 120 Recipes for Building Muscle, Getting Lean, and Staying Healthy
• 
  Drawing up a Local Listed Building Consent Order: Historic England Advice Note 6
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects by Harwood, Richard (2012) Paperback