Description

Andrew Mickel, 1907. 2-storey L-plan Art Nouveau influenced villa with 1st floor timber conservatory/verandah and viewing tower and exceptional interior. Harled with some red sandstone ashlar margins. Stained glass, overhanging eaves, canted bay, hoodmould and band course dividing storeys to principal elevation.

S (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: to left 2-bay section with M-pile roof. Tripartite canted bay to ground right, to left bipartite window. Above pair of bipartite windows. To far left, recessed single bay with round-arched keystoned entrance. Above, timber conservatory/verandah.

N ELEVATION: to left, single storey and basement piend roofed projecting wing. Near-central round arched stained glass stair window. To right, engaged tower with tripartite window to ground and timber viewing platform to 1st floor.

Predominantly original glazing, timber sash and case windows with horns, mostly 3 vertical panes over plate glass or 2-panes. Grey slates. Cast-iron rainwater goods with decorative hopper to S elevation.

INTERIOR: exceptionally good, overwhelmingly intact, strong Art Nouveau/Glasgow influence. Predominantly 6 vertical panel oak doors. Inner entrance door with upper stained glass panel leads to timber panelled hallway with dentil detail. Bay window to S elevation room (former dining room) has continuous mid-height oak timber panelling with display recess with shelves flanked by narrow cupboards with upper stained glass panels. Slightly advanced chimneypiece with mirror. Simple stylised cornice and banded ceiling. Ground floor tower room to N (former parlour), timber panelled dado incorporates bookcase and shelves with doors with glazed upper panels. Simple timber chimneypiece. Timber inbuilt dresser to kitchen with sliding doors, small range, leads to washhouse and lavatory housed in rear wing. Timber panelled dado to staircase with open carved timber panel above. Stained glass stair window with simple shield. 1st floor (former) drawing room with parquet flooring, dentilled picture rail, simple cornice. Cream and green tiled chimneypiece with sailing boats and large timber overmantle with leaded pane display cupboards. Flanked by recessed stained glass panels and engaged timber seats with cut-out heart motif. Door with stained and painted glass upper panel leads to conservatory/verandah and viewing tower. Original chimneypieces to other bedrooms. Dado height timber panelled bathroom with original towel rail, wash-hand basin and spray bath with shower.

GATEPIERS AND BOUNDARY WALLS: to S, low harled and coped stepped wall with 2 pairs of square corniced gatepiers with very shallow pyramidal caps, that to outer left replacement.

Statement of Interest

An interesting house with an exceptional near-intact interior. Designed by Andrew Mickel (1877-1962), who with John Mactaggart later formed the well-known housebuilding company, Mactaggart & Mickel. Mickel was brought up in Glasgow but his uncle, Robert Mickel, came from Linlithgow and owned the large sawmill and steam joinery works, Victoria Sawmills, in Bo'ness. This connection no doubt influenced the large amount of quality joinerwork in 73 Grahamsdyke Road (the stair woodwork is similar to that at Rosemount, Dean Road, see separate listing). Dean of Guild plans dated 8th June 1907 show that the house was commissioned for Frank Ord Mickel Esq, presumably a relative.

The house employs the characteristic Bo'ness feature of a tower overlooking the Forth. The interior is almost untouched from the date of construction and has a very strong Art Nouveau/Glasgow style influence, especially in the 1st floor drawing room with its large chimneypiece with built-in seating. The layout remains unchanged from that on the Dean of Guild plans, even down to the WC and Wash House, although 6-light leaded pane windows were planned for the 1st floor of the S elevation and the veandah was originally open.

73 Grahamsdyke Road currently has some subsidence problems, notably at the entrance (2004).

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17816293

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

• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide
• 
  Liverpool: Pevsner City Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Yorkshire: York and the East Riding (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cumbria: Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  Cornwall (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)