Description

William Hunter, circa 1900. Near symmetrical, gabled 2-storey, 3-bay Old English style house with single storey garage addition recessed to outer left. Predominantly red brick; raised brick quoins; raised brick long and short surrounds to openings; whitewashed harl and half-timbering at 1st floor Roll-moulded detailing to ground floor openings; red brick voussoir-arch detailing above; red brick mullions to glazing rows. Consoled terracotta tapering finials surmounting gables.

S (ENTRANCE) ELEVATION: painted steps to recessed central entrance comprising glazed timber panelled door; Arts and Crafts style letter-box with embossed "Hunter, Letters, Marionslea"; stained-glass side-lights; stained tripartite fanlight; mosaic-tiled vestibule to front with foliate detailing surrounding "Marionslea"; overhanging timber bracketed canopy; tripartite window aligned at 1st floor. 4-light canted window at ground in bay to outer left; quadripartite window centred in overhanging gable above. Quadripartite glazing row at ground in advanced bay to outer right; 5-light glazing row centred in gable above.

Predominantly opaque-glazed upper, plate-glass lower timber casements; 12-pane timber casements centred at 1st floor. Complex graded grey slate gabled pitches; ornamental terracotta ridge-tiling. Corniced red brick apex stacks to E and W; various terracotta cans.

INTERIOR: not seen 1996.

BOUNDARY WALL AND GATEPIERS: low coped red brick wall to Minister's Brae; cast-iron balustrade; cast-iron gatepiers flanking pedestrian entrance, tapering caps, ball-finials; cast-iron gate. Corniced square-plan panelled red sandstone gatepiers to outer left and right.

Statement of Interest

A good late example of Old English style red brick architecture, extremely rare in its context. Note the attention to detail and quality craftsmanship - the decorative letter-box, detailing around windows, mosaic vestibule floor, terracotta finials, ornamental ridge-tiling and stained casements. Built and lived in by the master builder, Mr William Hunter, who, according to Lawson was also responsible for the adjacent terrace of half-timbered villas (see separate list entry for Minister's Brae, Ashlea, Rowanlea, Beechlea, Elmlea and Oaklea), the Clysedale Bank building and some houses in Mount Pleasant Road. With both exterior and the majority of the interior still intact, the unusual materials and detailing, Marionslea retains significant architectural interest.

Rothesay is one of Scotland's premier seaside resorts, developed primarily during the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries, and incorporates an earlier medieval settlement. The town retains a wide range of buildings characteristic of its development as a high status 19th century holiday resort, including a range of fine villas, a Victorian pier and promenade.

The history and development of Rothesay is defined by two major phases. The development of the medieval town, centred on Rothesay Castle, and the later 19th and early 20th century development of the town as a seaside resort. Buildings from this later development, reflect the wealth of the town during its heyday as a tourist destination, and include a range of domestic and commercial architecture of a scale sometimes found in larger burghs. Both the 19th and early 20th century growth of the town, with a particular flourish during the inter-war period, included areas of reclaimed foreshore, particularly along the coast to the east of the town and around the pier and pleasure gardens.

(List description revised as part of Rothesay listing review 2010-11).

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17775463

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

• 
  [(Bedfordshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1968)
• 
  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The Shredded Chef: 120 Recipes for Building Muscle, Getting Lean, and Staying Healthy
• 
  Derbyshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)
• 
  Warwickshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)