Description

Before 1899. Highly individual 2-storey and attic, 5-bay, L-plan villa with leaded ogee-roofed semi-octagonal window bays in curvilinear gables, round-arched doorpiece with Gibbsian surround and semicircular-pedimented dormer windowheads in decoratively-tiled 1st floor mansard. Keystoned Venetian window. Roughly squared rubble with ashlar dressings and quoin strips. Base course. Voussoirs; stone mullions and raked cills.

S (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: centre bay at ground with steps up to broad doorpiece with panelled timber door, flanking lights and decoratively-astragalled semicircular fanlight under swept mansard roof with dormer window, 3-light part-canted window immediately to right under similar dormer and adjoining advanced full-height curvilinear gable at outer right with ogee-roofed 5-light canted/semi-octagonal window diminishing to 4-light window under swept ball-finialled pagoda roof. Curvilinear gabled bay to left of centre mirrors the above, and slightly set-back bay at outer right has Venetian window at ground and similar pedimented dormer above. Low 4-light horizontal dormer window with centre pediment between bays 3 and 4.

N ELEVATION: variety of elements including finialled bellcast-roofed polygonal entrance bay to centre adjoining curvilinear gable, and advanced wing at outer left.

Small pane glazing patterns in timber sash and case windows; some coloured glass to Venetian window. Lower slope of mansard with red fretted tiles, grey slates above. Corniced and banded ashlar stacks with cans. Ashlar-coped skews with moulded skewputts.

INTERIOR: good decorative scheme in place including decorative and moulded plasterwork cornicing; architraved panelled timber doors; picture rails. Fireplace in dining room imported from maid's bedroom. Encaustic-tiled vestibule leading to part-glazed panelled timber screen door with decoratively-astragalled toplight, and grand stairhall with parquet floor (circa 1940), fireplace, dog-leg staircase incorporating timber balusters, urn-finialled square newel posts, and pendant finials. Access through passage and heavy green baize door to SW ground floor room (see Notes) with Venetian window incorporating carved soffit, flanging columns and fluted reveals, and corniced timber fire surround.

BOUNDARY WALLS AND GATES: stepped semicircular-coped squared rubble boundary walls with 2 sets of 2-leaf ironwork gates to S; high coped rubble walls elsewhere.

Statement of Interest

The Lilies is a finely-detailed and highly individual example of turn of the 20th century architecture. It is situated immediately to the east of Fetteresso Parish Church, which has a window depicting lilies overlooking the house. This was commissioned by the first owner Mrs Lizzie Lindsay Thomson Wood, whose favourite flowers were lilies, and who advertised the house to let in Reid's 1899 publication. It was not uncommon for fine houses in Stonehaven to be rented out as holiday homes at the start of the twentieth century. The name was changed for a while to Daneston, but has now (2005) reverted to The Lilies. Built on land feued from Sir Alexander Baird in 1897 by A Thomson Wood, recorded as ' Inspector of Poor, Stonehaven', the house was subsequently sold to Alfred Lyon Wood, a chemist. The candelabra in the stairhall came from Urie House. The isolated position of the SW wing has led to some conjecture that this may have been used as a smoking room.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17779480

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

• 
  Huddersfield in 50 Buildings
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Central Leinster: Kildare, Laois and Offaly (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Farrow & Ball How to Decorate: Transform your home with paint & paper
• 
  Yorkshire: York and the East Riding (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)