Documents

There are no additional online documents for this record.

Summary

Description

Circa 1830. Imposing 2-storey 3-bay classical villa with Grecian details; subdivided circa 1970. Base course; outer pilasters supporting entablature with mutuled cornice. Central timber panelled door in reeded architrave with rosettes to corner blocks; margin-paned letterbox fanlight; prominent doorpiece with consoled cornice surmounted by pediment and acroterian. Windows to ground floor corniced with reeded architraves and rosettes to corner blocks; 1st floor windows with moulded architraves. Painted ashlar.

N (REAR) ELEVATION: 2 storeys over basement; irregular fenestration. Central stone stair to ground floor, open string with 'S' brackets, plain cast-iron railings and handrail; 2-leaf timber outer door within corniced architrave; margin-paned letterbox fanlight. Random sandstone rubble with raised window margins.

Ill-fitting uPVC glazing throughout (photograph of 1979 shows original 12-pane timber sash and case windows). Grey slates; stone ridge; straight skews; coped ashlar end stacks (no original cans).

BOUNDARY WALLS AND GATEPIERS: low coped ashlar wall to front with square Gothic-panelled piers; fan motifs to caps.

RUINED CHAPEL: roofless single storey chapel with Gothic details; 5 bays to N, 2 to W; Gothic-arched doorway, similar window openings to W elevation. Stugged and snecked sandstone with polished, raised margins and eaves course. Steps to door with 'S' brackets.

INTERIOR: Hall: partition wall dividing symmetrical plan; distinctive timber panelled doors with 8 fields, those to front ground rooms within pilastered doorcases with entablatures; panelled recess to L and R in hall with similar entablatures; panelled doors to rear stair and stores; remnants of anthemion and palmette cornice; consoled depressed arch. Former dining room: chair rail; garland frieze; pilastered, entablatured doorcase and panelled door with bead-moulded fields; chimneypiece in greyish green stone; 2 further doors with matching doorcases and doors to N wall. Stair: timber Imperial stair rising from 2 parallel flights into 1 broad flight to 1st floor (now divided). Master bedroom (1st floor): chair rail; built-in wardrobe with pilastered, entablatured doorcase, 2 pairs of 2-leaf panelled doors (2 leaves now mirrored); upper panels carved with mythical scene; fitted drawers within. Small bedroom: chair rail; timber pilastered chimneypiece with cast-iron insert. Bedroom: grey marble chimneypiece (later hearth).

Statement of Special Interest

Eglinton Street was formerly known as the Whang or Whang Street and the ground to the rear was the Whang meadows. The plot of land at No 62 was feued in 1826 from Lady Mary Montgomerie by Robert Spier, solicitor in Beith. Spier owned Cuff estate and through his marriage to Margaret Gibson acquired the estate of Marshalland. Robert and Margaret Spier's son John predeceased them but his eventual legacy was the foundation through an endowment of Spier's School built 1888 (since demolished). In 1870 Margaret died and Whang House was purchased by by Thomas Miller.

The house is large in scale in comparison to many of the contemporary villas in the street. Set back from the pavement with the low wall and decorative gatepiers, the house is unusual in Eglinton Street for this reason where others abut the pavement. The house has clearly been fine in its heyday though not all of the internal features survive (the building suffered from dry rot). The remaining high quality woodwork and evidence of fashionable cornicing illustrate that the client and builder were aware of prevailing tastes. The two surviving chimneypieces in the house are plain but conform to the classical language more fully expressed in the rest of the house, in particular the façade and the doorcases. The small chapel in the grounds to the rear was apparently for the family's private use and may be contemporary with the house. 60 Eglinton Street (separately listed) is thought to have been used as the coachhouse for Whang House.

References

Bibliography

About Listed Buildings

Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.

We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.

Listing is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for buildings of special architectural or historic interest as set out in the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997.

We list buildings which are found to be of special architectural or historic interest using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)

Listed building records provide an indication of the special architectural or historic interest of the listed building which has been identified by its statutory address. The description and additional information provided are supplementary and have no legal weight.

These records are not definitive historical accounts or a complete description of the building(s). If part of a building is not described it does not mean it is not listed. The format of the listed building record has changed over time. Earlier records may be brief and some information will not have been recorded.

The legal part of the listing is the address/name of site which is known as the statutory address. Other than the name or address of a listed building, further details are provided for information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland does not accept any liability for any loss or damage suffered as a consequence of inaccuracies in the information provided. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing. Even if a number or name is missing from a listing address it will still be listed. Listing covers both the exterior and the interior and any object or structure fixed to the building. Listing also applies to buildings or structures not physically attached but which are part of the curtilage (or land) of the listed building as long as they were erected before 1 July 1948.

While Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating listed buildings, the planning authority is responsible for determining what is covered by the listing, including what is listed through curtilage. However, for listed buildings designated or for listings amended from 1 October 2015, legal exclusions to the listing may apply.

If part of a building is not listed, it will say that it is excluded in the statutory address and in the statement of special interest in the listed building record. The statement will use the word 'excluding' and quote the relevant section of the 1997 Act. Some earlier listed building records may use the word 'excluding', but if the Act is not quoted, the record has not been revised to reflect subsequent legislation.

Listed building consent is required for changes to a listed building which affect its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest. The relevant planning authority is the point of contact for applications for listed building consent.

Find out more about listing and our other designations at www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support. You can contact us on 0131 668 8914 or at designations@hes.scot.