Description

Circa 1860. 2-storey with single-storey and attic former service wing to side, roughly rectangular-plan Italianate villa with deep, bracketed eaves, bracketed decorative M-gables to E and W, arched decorative window-heads, semicircular bay window to W, and open gabled porch. Squared, snecked, tooled red sandstone with polished ashlar dressings. Base course, string course, cill course. Plain ashlar window margins.

E (FRONT) ELEVATION: M-gabled bay to centre: 2-leaf timber panelled door with round-arched fanlight and bracketed porch with low side-walls and timber columns with shaft rings; 3 windows at ground to left; depressed-arch mezzanine window above; 2 windows at 1st floor with fan-shaped carving to window heads. Slightly recessed bay to right of entrance with tripartite window at ground and bipartite window at 1st floor. Service wing to left with 4 windows at ground and 2 gabled dormers breaking eaves to attic.

N ELEVATION: 1 window at ground; 2 windows at 1st floor.

W (GARDEN) ELEVATION: unsympathetic late 20th century conservatory on brick base at ground to principal house; bow window at ground behind conservatory with stone mullions, dentilled eaves course and painted metal roof with decorative cast-iron balcony railings; bipartite window above; bipartite window at 1st floor to right with console-bracketed balcony. Former service wing recessed to right with mid 20th century lean-to conservatory and gabled dormer to attic

S ELEVATION OF FORMER SERVICE WING: 2-bay gable to left with paired consoles to eaves; sandstone porch at ground with 2-leaf timber panelled door, round-arched windows and console-bracketed eaves. Swept-roof section to right with wallhead stack.

Plate glass in timber sash and case windows to main house; non-traditional uPVC glazing to former service wing. Short red sandstone stacks; cream clay cans with decorative Greek-key bands, some with red-clay topper cans. Cast-iron rainwater goods.

INTERIOR: half-glazed timber panelled lobby door; barley-twist stair balusters and tapered octagonal newel post with paterae; skylight over stair; decorative cornicing to principal rooms; plain cornices elsewhere; timber panelled interior doors throughout.

Statement of Interest

An exceptionally well-detailed Italianate house, strongly influenced by the domestic work of Alexander Thomson (compare with Thomson's Craig Ailey at Kilcreggan, particularly the treatment of the bow window). It is not known who the architect was, although the feuing conveyance shows that that the land was sold in 1860 to Hugh Kennedy, a wright and builder from Partick (Glasgow). It seems unlikely that this house was designed by a builder, although Alexander Thomson did publish his designs in pattern books. The addition of the conservatory on the West elevation is highly insensitive, although fortunately the bow window is untouched behind it. The main part of the house retains its original timber windows, and the chimney pots with Greek-Key borders are a particularly nice touch. Internally, the plaster cornicing and interior doors still survive, although all the original fireplaces have been removed. The newel post and stair decorative balusters are a good example of West Coast detailing. The main house and former service wing are in separate ownership.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q77781208

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

• 
  Old House Handbook 2 Books Bundle Collection (Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair,Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability)
• 
  Building Small Projects (New Best of Fine Woodworking)
• 
  Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)