General view of Marionslea, Minister's Brae, Rothesay, Bute, from S

Description General view of Marionslea, Minister's Brae, Rothesay, Bute, from S

Date 28/6/2011

Collection Records of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), Edinbu

Catalogue Number DP 102868

Category On-line Digital Images

Scope and Content A large number of the key buildings in Rothesay built during the late 19th and early 20th century were designed by locally-based architects. One local builder, William Hunter (1840-1929) also helped shape much of the town at this time. As well as being responsible for prominent public buildings such as the Norman Stewart Institute (1885, demolished 1974), Craigmore Parish Church (1889) and the Clydesdale Bank (between 1877 and 1906), he built a terrace of 'English' Arts and Crafts style villas in Minister's Brae c.1905. Alongside the terrace of five villas he had built a detached villa, Marionslea, for himself c.1900 in the same style. This two-storeyed, three-bayed villa has a red brick ground floor with black and white mock half-timbered first floor. There is a range of interesting glazing patterns, with some of the smaller panes being stained glass. The roof and gables are topped with decorative terracotta tiles and finials. Further original details still exist with mosaic tiled entrance vestibule with 'Marionslea' and an Arts and Crafts style letterbox, also embossed with the house name and Hunter's name. This small group of houses are an unusual example of this Edwardian Arts and Crafts style within the context of Rothesay. The town has a huge variety of styles including many villas featuring elements of Alexander 'Greek' Thomson's designs. Building in contemporary styles found in larger towns and cities were a means of demonstrating how cosmopolitan those commissioning the buildings were, particularly at the turn of the 19th/20th century.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/1242379

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap