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• Type

  Map

  Title

  Map for Lindores, 61 and 61a Newark Street, 158, 160, 162, 164 and 166 Finnart Street, Greenock (LB34135)

  Download(https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/document/600002841)

Summary

Description

This 2-storey and attic, 6-bay house, dating from 1880 by the Glasgow architect John Honeyman, is built in a quadrangular plan around a small central courtyard and has an attached 2-storey, L-plan former stable block, coach house and former garage to the southwest. The property has been divided into seven separate residential units. There are two distinctive 3-stage towers with pyramidal roofs, one at the far west of the coach house and the other incorporated into the north wing of the house. The building is of ashlar sandstone, channelled at ground floor level and with channelled corner quoins and has a base course, band courses and a cornice.

The principal elevation to the south has steps, with flanking metal lions on pedestals, leading to an off-centre, 2-leaf timber entrance door. The door sits within a round-arched doorpiece. Round and square Ionic columns to the right and left support an advanced balustrade above which extends over the tripartite window to the left. There is an advanced, 2-bay section to the right (west) and a dormer with a round-arched pediment and flanking balustrades to the east. The west elevation of the property has some canted bay windows.

The windows are predominantly plate glass timber sash and case with some non-traditional windows to the rear and former stable block area of the property. The roof is piended to the majority of sections and has grey slates and metal finials to its apices. There are a number of corniced and decorative chimney stacks.

The majority of the main house interior was seen in 2016. There has been some alteration to the room layout as a result of the division of the property into several residences, but a number of public rooms remain intact and a number of high quality 19th century decorative features remain. Sections of the property which were around the main staircase of the former house have timber panelling to picture rail height. Some sections of the main staircase remain, along with its timber balusters. There is some intricate decorative plasterwork to some of the public rooms and some carved chimney pieces. Other rooms have dado-height timber panelling and a number of the doors are part-glazed, with others 6-panelled timber doors. One room has a pair of glazed, columned, round-arched features, looking to the internal courtyard, one of which has a French window and the other is a canted alcove with window seating. There are a number of stained glass panels including those in the internal part-glazed entrance door, and the former stairwell.

Statement of Special Interest

Dating from the early 1880s and designed by the highly regarded architect John Honeyman, Lindores is a large Victorian villa with accompanying former Coach House and Stable Block, which has good internal and external decorative detailing. Built for Robert Mason of James Richardson & Co and originally called Nellieslee, the villa is tangible evidence of the wealth that arose from the sugar and shipbuilding industries based on the Clyde in Greenock from the 18th century onwards. The plan form of Lindores is unusual in that it includes a small internal courtyard, which may have been designed to provide an extra source of light for the surrounding rooms. This was a feature of a number of houses that John Honeyman designed, such as at Craigie Hall in Glasgow, for example (listed at category A).

The first owner of the property, Robert Mason, was a partner with Messrs James Richardson & Co., sugar refiners, who operated in Greenock up until the early 1890s. On 14th April 1897 Robert Mason sold Nellieslee at a public roup in Glasgow. The property was described in the Glasgow Herald at the time as "large and commodious" and "finished in a most expensive and luxurious style" (1897).

The property was bought by Alexander Park Lyle, owner of Lyle Shipping Company Limited and son of Abram Lyle of Tate and Lyle. It was Lyle who changed the villa's name from Nellieslee to Lindores. Lyle was an influential figure locally, serving as Lord Provost of Greenock for three years, chairman of the Greenock Chamber of Commerce, president of the Philosophical Society, and as a member of the Clyde Lighthouse Trust. It is probable that Lyle continued to own Lindores house until after the First World War when the building was used as Lindores Reception Hospital by the Red Cross. In 1919 Mr Peter McCallum Lang bought Lindores house. Lang was a prominent Greenock ship-owner and one of the best known and wealthiest businessmen in Greenock. During the Second World War the house was once again brought in to assist, becoming home to 80 Canadian Wrens. At this time the property transferred into the control of the Navy and remained in their ownership, being home to a Naval Picket until October 1946. This ceased with the purchase of Lindores by building contractors Messrs W. H. Kirkwood. Dean of Guild Records show that they intended to divide the mansion into three smaller dwellings for sale and build other houses on the extensive grounds attached to the house.

The main house of Lindores is currently divided into four separate dwellings, with another three within the former coach house and stables.

John Honeyman (1831-1914) was a highly regarded Glasgow architect, practising in the latter part of the 19th and early part of the 20th century. His output included churches, public buildings, schools and a wide range of domestic and residential properties. Lindores shares some features with other houses by Honeyman, including Craigie Hall in Glasgow, (1872) which is listed at category A. Both Lindores and Craigie Hall feature some external detailing and an internal courtyard. Lindores was built at a cost of £11,041, which was a significant amount of money at the time and suggests that the house was built to high specifications.

Category changed, listed building record updated and statutory address amended in 2016. Previously listed as Lindores, 61 Newark Street.

References

Bibliography

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