Lower Strathkinness Road, Carron Lodge,stable Block,garden Walls,gatepiers and Boundary Walls, St Andrews, Fife

Description

An asymmetrical villa consisting of a late 18th century, 2-storey former farmhouse with a long, 8-bay single-storey 1901 Arts and Crafts extension by local architects James Gillespie and James Scott. This later Arts and Crafts addition, which extends south to the Kinness Burn, altered the late 18th century farmhouse which stands to the rear at the northeast corner. The former farmhouse part of the building is of white painted rubble, while the later addition has white painted harl with contrasting black painted margins. In accordance with Section 1 (4A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 the following are excluded from the listing: the gatepiers and boundary walls to the north, Lower Strathkinness Road.

The east (entrance) elevation of the Arts and Crafts addition has a long piended roof and a distinctive, off-centre circular entrance porch with a low wall and 6 short timber columns supporting a steeply conical roof with a ball finial. There are 2-leaf timber entrance doors leading into the house. There is a single advanced bay to the south of this elevation with outbuildings set at right angles.

The 2-storey piend-roofed single bay of the 18th century farmhouse lies to the left of the west elevation. Three, single-storey gabled bays with tripartite bay windows, with those on the outer bays canted, lie to the right. To the far right of the elevation is a 4-bayed, columned loggia.

The windows are mostly timber sash and case windows and some have horns. In the west elevation there are 12, 15 or 18 panes over 2-panes timber sash and case windows. The east elevation has mostly 6 panes over 6-panes timber sash and case windows. There is a piended roof to the east elevation; the west elevation has gabled bays. There are graded grey slates on the roof and a pair of tall chimney stacks to the north elevation. There are further ridge and tall chimney stacks to the west elevation.

The interior was seen in 2017. There is high quality timber decorative detailing in three of the main rooms in the Arts and Crafts extension and its porch. The drawing room has simplified Jacobean plasterwork, dado height timber panelling, and an inset bookcase and part-glazed cupboard. There is a marble Adam-style chimneypiece with reeded decoration and central and outer panels with classical figures. The dining room is timber lined with a coombed ceiling and a classically detailed columned timber chimneypiece with dentilled detailing. A further room has a simple plasterwork decoration to the ceiling and a fire surround. The interior of the porch is timber lined with a part-glazed internal entrance door. There are working timber shutters. There is a curved timber staircase with a narrow timber banister within the older part of the house.

The stable block stands to the north of the villa. It is a long range, with 2-storey, 6-bay stables to the east in sandstone rubble with irregular windows, a hayloft and some iron ties. There are some 4-pane lying-pane over 2-pane timber sash and case windows. The interior was partly seen and is near intact with individual timber and metal stables and hay racks.

To the west of the stables are further single-storey outbuildings, which are stepped at roofline. A single storey red brick and timber former garage lies to the northwest.

The garden walls to the west of the house enclose a garden on the north and east sides, with the Kinness Burn to the south. They are high rubble walls with chamfered openings and the occasional ball finial detail. To the far west are red brick walls around an orchard. To the northeast of the house is a further section of rubble garden wall with a round-arched opening.

Statement of Interest

Carron Lodge is a good example of a small country house and garden that was adapted during its history. From an 18th century farm, it was extended in Arts and Crafts style by local architects, James Gillespie and James Scott. It remains the centrepiece of an interesting group of buildings in a garden setting, including an orchard, and a near-intact stable block. The circular entrance porch on the east elevation and the bays and loggia on the west elevation are distinctive features of the property. Much of the early Arts and Crafts interior decorative scheme is intact and the extensive timber work is a particular feature of the house.

In accordance with Section 1 (4A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 the following are excluded from the listing: the gatepiers and boundary walls to the north, Lower Strathkinness Road.

Age and Rarity

Carron Lodge appears first on the small-scale John Ainslie Map of Fife, 1775, and it is likely that Carron was the name of the farmhouse, which forms the north part of the present house. By the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey Map, surveyed in 1854, the house had expanded, and is shown as an irregularly shaped property, with formal gardens to the east and west. It had also changed its name to Spalding. By the time of the 2nd edition Ordnance Survey Map (published in 1895), the name had changed back to become Carron Lodge. The Arts and Crafts addition was completed in 1901 by local architects James Gillespie and James Scott. The Dictionary of Scottish Architects also notes that a servant's bathroom and bedroom were added to the property in 1933.

Carron Lodge is one of a number of significant Arts and Crafts houses built in and around St Andrews at the beginning of the 20th century. The town was expanding to the west at this time, and many large Arts and Craft villas were built in this area.

Carron Lodge is a combination of both an 18th century farmhouse and an early 20th century Arts and Crafts House designed by local architects, set within its own garden grounds and associated with stables, outbuildings and garden walls. The main interest in the house lies in its high quality decorative detailing which is discussed in more detail below, and the relationship of the house to its surviving garden setting.

Architectural or Historic Interest

Interior

Arts and Crafts houses often had high quality decorative detailing to their interiors and the 1901 extension to Carron Lodge is no exception. There is extensive timber panelling in the dining room and porch and in the lower sections of the drawing room, which adds to the character of the house. Other interior detailing within the three principal rooms to the west contributes to this interest.

In the former farmhouse part of the property, the curved staircase is typical for the late 18th century date of the property.

Plan form

Arts and Crafts houses and gardens often had informal plans, which was also reflected in their gardens. Divided into compartments, gardens tended to have informal planting. There were often more formal areas around the house, with less formal and more naturalistic areas further away. Some of this is discernible at Carron Lodge, with the formal walled garden to the west of the house and the more informal orchard and tree planting further from the house.

The building of the Arts and Craft extension in 1901 altered the plan form of the 18th century farmhouse. Its former room layout is not discernible.

The 1901 section has a simple layout with a long central corridor, with smaller rooms to the east and larger rooms to the west, each lit with a tripartite window. This layout is relatively simple compared with other Arts and Craft houses, which often made use of hidden corners and different levels in their interior spaces.

Technological excellence or innovation, material or design quality

The harled rubble of the 18th century farmhouse is typical for this date.

Externally, the round porch is an unusual feature. In common with other Arts and Crafts houses, the two elevations of the property are distinguished by their different decorative features and can be seen as two principal elevations. The entrance elevation has the distinctive conical porch and the west elevation has three prominent gables, each with a tripartite window. The roof shapes are different too, with the east having one long single piended roof with tall chimney stacks, whereas the rear has three distinct canted bay windows with gabled roofs and a loggia at the south end.

James Gillespie and James Scott's architectural practice started in 1895 and developed quickly with commissions from the University of St Andrews and the town's St Leonard's school. The practice had a staff of 15 by 1905. The practice was responsible for large numbers of buildings in St Andrews and across Fife and their output included private houses, schools, estate buildings and factories, as well as smaller, alteration work. Gillespie died in 1913, and some of the work of the firm was taken over by the St Andrews firm of Mills and Shepherd. Gillespie and Scott continues as an architectural practice, based in Elie, Fife (2017).

Setting

Carron Lodge has a rural setting within its own large private gardens and ancillaries and is not visible from the road. It is approached via a driveway, flanked by two entrance lodges at the roadside, but which are not visible from Carron Lodge. The 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map, published in 1855 shows the house with formal gardens to the east and west. While the formal style has changed, these garden areas remain, and a wall surrounds the one to the west. The outbuildings, and in particular the stable block, add to the understanding of the property as a small country estate where gardens were of some importance. The small Kinness Burn lies to the immediate south of the house. Recent housing to the south of this has changed some of the former rural feel of the property from that aspect (2017).

Regional variations

There are no known regional variations.

2.3 Close Historical Associations

There are no known associations with a person or event of national importance at present (2017).

Previous occupants of the house included figures of some local importance. In the early part of the 19th century, the house belonged to John Hunter, the Principal of St Andrews University. He had a keen interest in agriculture and horticulture and is thought to have developed the gardens at Carron Lodge (see under setting). Hunter also had a potato named after him – the Hunter Kidney. John Hunter passed the house to his son, Rev Professor James Hunter, who was the Professor of Logic and Rhetoric at St Andrews University. The house was advertised for sale in the Fife Herald, December 1839 by Dr James Hunter and is described at the time as the farm and dwelling house and offices of Carron. It was still owned by Dr Hunter in 1841, as the census records a James Hunter residing at Carron Lodge. By 1854, and the survey of the 1st Edition Map, the house is recorded in the Ordnance Survey Name book, which accompanies the map, as being the property of a Mr Ireland.

By 1891, the census records Jean Ogilvy Cheape as the Head of the House. This corresponds to the information on the Dictionary of Scottish Architects that the Cheapes were the clients for all the phases of the work at Carron Lodge from the late 19th century to 1912. The death of Anne Charlotte Cheape is recorded in the Aberdeen Evening Express on 15 May 1914.

Statutory address, category of listing and listed building record revised in 2017. Previously listed as 'Lower Strathkinness Road, Carron Lodge, stable block, garden walls, gatepiers and boundary wall'. Category of listing changed from B to C in 2017.

External Links

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