Description

T B McFadzen, 1875. 2-storey, 5-bay, asymmetrical square-plan Jacobethan villa with ogee gables and square-plan tower to rear. Tooled yellow sandstone in regular courses with ashlar margins. Blocked quoins, base course, projecting cornice between 1st and 2nd storeys, eaves course, projecting cornice. Predominantly tall stone- mullioned and -transomed windows.

NE (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: 5-bays; advanced porch to centre left; original entrance to centre block glazed, flanked by pilasters on pedestals, paired acanthus carved consoles supporting projecting cornice and parapet, keystone to centre. Later entrance opened to right return. Bowed projecting bay to 2nd storey flanked by blocked quoins, blocked parapet. Mixture of tripartite, bipartite and single light windows to flanking bays.

SW (REAR) ELEVATION: 4-bays; gabled bay to outer right, 2-leaf glazed doors to centre, advanced 2-storey, 3-bay wing to outer left with ball-finials to stone dormer heads, engaged 3-stage square-plan tower with parapet to return. Single storey, 3-bay range abutting to gable end with engaged octagonal 2-stage tower to S corner. Modern addition to gable end.

SE (SIDE) ELEVATION: 4-bays; advanced 2-storey, 4-light windows to gabled outer bays, canted bay to outer left, rectangular bay to outer right. Mixture of bipartite and tripartite windows to centre bays.

NW (SIDE) ELEVATION: rear of S wing to right, tower to centre, 2-storey gabled bay to immediate left, 2-storey, 3-bay modern addition to left, 2-storey gable end to outer left.

Predominantly timber frame, plate glass sash and case windows. Grey slates, lead flashings. Moulded cast-iron rainwater goods. Tall, decoratively-coped octagonal chimney stalks.

INTERIOR: coffered timber panelling to hallway ceiling. Ornate foliate, pierced carving to balustrade, newel posts bearing converted gas lamps; coffered, fluted timber column arcading to part of landing balcony. Timber panelling to ceiling of former dining room to left of entrance, timber gothic arcading to recessed, mirror-backed buffet to rear. Classical motifs to heavy plasterwork cornices and timber panelled walls in rooms to rear.

GATELODGE: single storey, 2-bay, rectangular-plan lodge with slightly advanced gabled bay to right, advanced canted bay with crenellated parapet, barge-boarding to overhanging eaves. Tooled yellow sandstone courses. Timber frame, plate glass, sash and case windows. Grey slates, lead flashing.

GATEPIERS AND BOUNDARY WALL: high, square-plan piers with plain pulvinated caps. Random rubble, coped boundary wall.

Statement of Interest

A typical, if oversize late Victorian villa, its awkward use of the Jacobethan style and unruly planning representing very well the eclectic exuberance of the High Victorian architect and his newly monied clients.

The timber panelled interiors, though machined, are of a high quality and detail worthy of attention; the gothicised dining room buffet is of particular interest.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q77777943

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

• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of Historic Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide
• 
  Central Leinster: Kildare, Laois and Offaly (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House