Listed Building

The only legal part of the listing under the Planning (Listing Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 is the address/name of site. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing – see 'About Listed Buildings' below for more information. The further details below the 'Address/Name of Site' are provided for information purposes only.

Address/Name of Site

QUARRIER'S VILLAGE, FAITH AVENUE, HOMELEALB50021

Status: Designated

Documents

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Summary

Category
C
Date Added
02/12/2004
Local Authority
Inverclyde
Planning Authority
Inverclyde
Parish
Kilmacolm
NGR
NS 36380 66811
Coordinates
236380, 666811

Description

Robert Bryden, 1886. Single-storey and attic roughly rectangular-plan piend-roofed villa with half-timbered detailing and dormers breaking eaves to attic. 2-storey canted bays to NE and SW elevations; half-timbered gable to NW (entrance) elevation with swept-roof porch to one side; canted bay window to SE (rear) elevation. Cream sandstone ashlar with some half-timbering and bull-faced snecked sandstone base course. Base course, ground floor cill course to principal elevations; string course to canted bays and gable; bargeboarded eaves. Roll-moulded window margins, some raised; some transomed and mullioned windows.

NW (ENTRANCE) ELEVATION: half-glazed timber-panelled door to swept-roof glazed porch with decorative woodwork. 2-leaf timber panelled front door in stop-chamfered, roll-moulded architrave; decorative carved tablet above bearing date AD 1886. Advanced gable to centre with tripartite window at ground; attic floor jettied out on carved stone corbels and timber brackets; half-timbering with decorative woodwork; bipartite window to attic with timber mullion. Swept-roof windowless half-timbered bay to right with decorative turned baluster detailing.

SW (SIDE) ELEVATION: canted bay to left with tripartite window at ground; flanking transomed windows; bipartite gabled dormer to attic. Irregularly-fenestrated recessed 3-bay wing to right with

half-timbered 2-window dormer to attic.

SE (REAR) ELEVATION: 4-light canted bay window at ground to left; bipartite, half-timbered gabled dormer above. Slightly recessed bay to right with bipartite window at ground and bipartite, half-timbered gabled dormer above.

NE (SIDE) ELEVATION: canted bay to right identical to one on SW elevation, but with piend-roofed dormer. 3-bay wing slightly recessed to left: bipartite window to right with decorative strap-work pediment above; timber boarded side door to centre with fanlight over lintel; piend-roofed dormers above; possibly later door at 1st floor with concrete steps to outer left.

Timber sash and case windows with predominantly plate glass glazing; some 4-pane glazing to sides. Decorative ridge stacks with octagonal yellow clay cans. Graded grey slates; decorative red terracotta ridge tiles. Cast iron rainwater goods.

INTERIOR: tiled porch. Half-glazed timber-panelled inner door. Inner and outer entrance hall divided by beam supported on decorative console brackets. Timber stair with boxed-in balusters, timber hand rail and tapered newel post with ball finial. Interior door-cases with corner rondels; interior timber panelled doors (some boxed in to make Fire Doors). Half-glazed timber panelled doors with frosted glass to side-door lobby and former office. Fairly plain cornicing throughout.

Statement of Special Interest

Situated at the junction between Faith Avenue and the principal road through Quarrier's Village, this was the house of the founder of the village, William Quarrier, from 1886 until his death in 1903.

William Quarrier was a Glaswegian businessman with a chain of shoe shops, who had suffered great poverty in his childhood, and was very concerned by the plight of orphaned and abandoned children in Glasgow. In 1864 he set up a 'Shoe Black Brigade' which issued impoverished young boys with shoe-shining kits and uniforms, and made reading and writing classes available to them in the evening. In1871 he opened a night refuge for destitute children in Renfrew Street. His greatest achievement, however, was the establishment of Quarrier's Village, which was built from 1877 onwards. William Quarrier was strongly opposed to the institutional nature of city orphanages, and instead built a number of villas or 'cottages' which each housed 20-30 children under the care of a married couple who acted as foster parents. The village also contained a school, church, post office, dairy, poultry farm, fire station, and workshops where the children were trained to a trade. The architect Robert Bryden was commissioned to design the buildings, which are all different but built to a roughly Tudor style, apparently inspired by the work of W E Nesfield and Richard Noman Shaw.

In 1882 Quarrier gave up his chain of shops and spent all his time managing the orphan homes and other charitable projects. Homelea is a very modest house, smaller than most of the other villas in the village, and reflects Quarrier's simple tastes. His office was located at the back end of the house, and the side door gave access to business visitors. Construction of the village continued after Quarrier's death in 1903, and it remains well preserved with only a few of the buildings having been altered in some way.

References

Bibliography

Shown on 2nd Edition OS map, 1898. www.quarriers.org.uk

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.

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Printed: 03/04/2026 12:03