Description

Late 19th century (circa 1882?). Near-symmetrical pair of 2-storey, 2-bay Stick-style houses forming 4-bay block recessed at centre; advanced piended bays to outer left and right; projecting entrance porches recessed at sides; single storey L-plan wings adjoining at rear. Random rubble whinstone; tooled yellow sandstone dressings. Raised base course; raised string course; timber brackets beneath overhanging corniced eaves. Raised yellow sandstone quoins; raised long and short surrounds to droved openings; slightly chamfered cills (projecting cills to single storey wings at rear).

N (FRONT) ELEVATION: bipartite windows at both floors in 2 bays recessed at centre; projecting tripartite windows at ground in advanced bays to outer left and right; bipartite windows aligned above. Bracketed balconies at 1st floor; arcaded timber pilasters supporting bracketed eaves beneath piend to outer right (West Firwood); tripartite piended dormer centred in pyramidal roof to outer left (East Firwood).

E AND W (SIDE ENTRANCE) ELEVATIONS: 3-bay. Steps to projecting porch centred at ground comprising timber pilasters to outer left and right, timber brackets beneath boarded timber roof, decorative timber balustrade; 2-leaf timber panelled door centred in advanced sandstone surround within; part-glazed (engraved-glass) timber panelled vestibule door; plate-glass fanlight. Bipartite window aligned above entrance; single windows at both floors in bay to outer right (East Firwood) and left (West Firwood); large, part-stained stair-light in bay to outer left and right respectively. Piended L-plan wings to S.

Predominantly geometric-patterned, 5-light upper, plate-glass lower timber casements; 4- and 6-pane timber sash and case windows at rear; stained surrounds to opaque-glazed stair windows. Graded grey slate piend; slate-hung dormers; slate-hung bell-cast pyramidal roof to outer left; slated L-plan piends at rear; replacement rainwater goods. Slightly bull-faced coursed sandstone coped ridge and wallhead stacks; circular cans.

INTERIOR: not seen 1996.

Statement of Interest

An interesting pair of houses with many original features. Note the extensive use of timber, the original casements to the N, timber panelled doors, coped stacks and stained stair-lights. Here is a good, if unusual example of the Swiss-influenced Stick-style - rustic and picturesque. Thought to have been commissioned in 1882 by a Glasgow hosier.

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 Q17775433

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

• 
  Somerset: South and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy
• 
  Liverpool: Pevsner City Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  County Durham (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England) by Elizabeth Williamson Nikolaus Pevsner(1983-03-11)
• 
  The Victorian House Manual (2nd Edition): How They Were Built, Improvements & Refurbishment, Solutions to All Common Defects - Includes Relevant ... ... Properties (Haynes Manual) (Haynes Manuals)