Description

Thomson and Sandilands, dated 1901. 2-storey, irregular-plan Arts and Crafts country house with deep bracketed eaves, timber mullioned windows, oriel windows, prominent chimney stacks, and a mixture of red-tiled piended, gabled and jerkin-headed roofs. White painted roughcast render. Irregular fenestration of predominantly multi-light windows.

DESCRIPTION: large, sprawling, irregular-planned house with stepped elevations to each side and single-storey piend-roofed service wing extending from W corner. 2-leaf timber-boarded front door with strap hinges in round-arched brick architrave with prominent to gabled lobby advanced from centre of NE elevation; swept-roof section behind with 5-light dormer window; slightly advanced gable to right with small windows at ground and large oriel window under bracketed jerkin-headed roof at 1st floor; irregularly fenestrated recessed section to outer right; 2-bay section to left with tripartite mullioned windows at ground floor and canted, gabled, oriel windows above. 2 5-light mullioned windows at ground of SE (garden) elevation; 1st floor bracketed out above with jerkin-headed gable to left bay flanked by small turret to left and bowed oriel to right; terracotta date stone above round-arched glazed garden door to left return. Large piend-roofed section extending from centre of SW elevation forming courtyard on each side with large 2-storey projecting mullioned window to SE, oriel inglenook with prominent stack to SW, and canted window in NW re-entrant angle at first floor. W courtyard filled with 20th century conservatory. Irregular fenestration and half-glazed timber-boarded back door to NW (rear) elevation.

Predominantly timber casements with a variety of plate glass, leaded and small-pane glazing; some small-pane glazing in timber sash and case windows. Tall, coped, rendered wallhead and ridge stacks with red clay cans. Cast-iron rainwater goods with some semicircular hoppers. Red Rosemary tiles to roof.

INTERIOR: Glazed timber lobby door with leaded side lights; black and white tiles to lobby floor. Access to interior not possible 2005. The sales brochure shows original fireplaces (some with excellent Arts and Crafts tile work), timber panelling and plate racks. There is no reason to believe that these have been removed.

GARDEN TERRACES: red brick terrace with gatepiers flanking steps to lawn to SE of house.

Statement of Interest

This house has particular interest as one of a very small number of domestic buildings designed by the prominent Glasgow firm Thomson and Sandilands. The original fabric of the house appears to be largely unaltered, although its garden setting has been radically changed.

John Thomson was the oldest surviving son of Alexander 'Greek' Thomson. He trained at his father's practice after the latter's death and then worked in London for a few years, during which time he travelled extensively on architectural sketching tours. In 1886 he returned to Glasgow and went into partnership with Robert Douglas Sandilands, who had trained at the Ecole Des Beaux Arts. Their practice rose to prominence in 1889 when they won the competition to build Gartloch Asylum. From that point onwards their workload was high and principally concerned with public and commercial buildings such as hospitals, schools, public halls, offices and churches. This house, one of only 3 large domestic commissions that they are known to have carried out, therefore adds an important dimension to the understanding of the firm's work. The style is strongly influenced by Charles Voysey.

The house does not appear on any pre-war OS maps, which makes it difficult to determine whether any later additions have been made. There are two small outbuildings located to the NW of the house. The large garage to the N of the house was built recently (between 2002 and 2005).

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17853033

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

• 
  The Listed Buildings and Other Principal Structures at the Royal Gunpowder Mills Waltham Abbey
• 
  Cornwall (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Somerset: South and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Sheffield and the South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Leeds, Bradford and the North (Pevsner Architectural Guides / Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability