Description

Possibly John Brash architect, circa 1840; addition of bay window to rear elevation, circa 1850. 2-storey (4-storey to rear), 3-bay, roughly T-plan cottage ornée villa set on narrow wedge-shaped steeply sloping plot between Otago Street and the River Kelvin. Painted droved stone with painted ashlar pilasters between bays to front elevation. Distinctive decorative timber bargeboards to gable eaves; decorative timber hood over front door. Small canted bays (at entrance level) to east and south elevations.

12-pane lying pane glazing in timber sash and case windows to east elevation; elsewhere large pane glazing in timber sash and case windows. Grey slates. Unusual arrangement of 3 hexagonal shafted wallhead stacks linked at cornice level on front elevation with yellow clay cans. Cast-iron rain water goods.

The interior was not seen at the time of the listing review (2014).

Statement of Interest

Janefield Cottage dates from about 1840 and is a rare survival of a picturesque cottage ornée being one of very few in Glasgow, as well as Scotland as a whole. It is one of the oldest surviving buildings in Hillhead and makes an important contribution to the streetscape. The villa is largely unaltered externally and retains its original area of garden. It is an unusual design being a tall building with a small footprint and has been designed to fit into the constricted steeply sloping site between Otago Street and the River Kelvin. Details such as the bargeboards on the gables and the triple stacks as well as the original bay on the north elevation are unusual and distinctive.

Cottages ornées are a relatively rare building type in Scotland. They perhaps appear most often as village houses or estate buildings but examples in an urban area largely consisting of tenements and terraced houses is unusual for this date.

Janefield Cottage and two now demolished villas to the south on Otago Street were all built before 1841 when census records show the group was known collectively as 'Bank Head Cottage, Hillhead'. By the mid-1850s they were known as Kevin Cottage, which later became Janefield), Kevinside Cottage and Rose Cottage. As yet no architect for Janefield Cottage has been established firmly. It is possible that David Smith, Glasgow's leading surveyor and mapmaker at that time, was responsible. He had acquired lands along the River Kelvin and built himself a country seat called 'Westbank;'(the original name of Otago Street was Smith Street). It is possible that Smith employed a good builder and with the aid of pattern books or with the recommendations of John Claudius Loudon gleaned from his

widely available 'Encyclopaedia' would have developed all three cottages. Ash Cottage which stood at the south end of Smith Street was still in the hands of David Smith's Trustees in the mid-1850s. But the three cottages further north were the property of other individuals and no longer survive.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q77782503

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

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  Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes (For Pros By Pros)