The Herald - The Herald Magazine
Living it large in a refined setting
REDLANDS House is an impressive, B-listed Italianate villa that stands on its own at the top of Lancaster Terrace in the Kelvinside area of Glasgow, a prime West End location well placed for the University of Glasgow, Botanic Gardens, and a wide range of shops and eateries on Byres Road.
Designed by architect James Boucher and built circa 1871 for James Buchanan Mirrlees, then owner of Redlands Estate, the building’s fine masonry and interior specification – Doric columns, deep moulded architraves, elaborate plaster detailing and ornate ceiling cornices – reflected its owner’s wealth and status.
In the early 1920s the house underwent a change of use to become a hospital for women, which continued until 1978, when the Scottish Ambulance Service acquired it as a training centre. In more recent years it regained residential status following conversion by Laurieston Developments to provide individually designed apartments – and amazingly, lost none of its architectural splendour in the process.
Now on the market, 11b is an outstanding two-storey conversion occupying the ground and garden levels. Accessed via a grand elevated entrance and communal hall, the ground floor has a bright, visually striking 24ft dining kitchen of a size and style that makes a chandelier almost mandatory. From here, sliding doors lead into a magnificent 31ft sitting/dining room and a spiral staircase to the lower ground level, which reveals four
double bedrooms, two en-suites and a family bathroom. There is good storage and parking.
Detail is key – wood floors, feature fireplaces, wonderfully ornate plasterwork, panelled doors and window surrounds, neutral decoration and huge windows that fill the interior with light.
The kitchen is fitted with dark grey, flat-fronted units and a central island hob/breakfast bar; and the sitting room echoes the wood flooring, lavishly ornate plasterwork and focal fireplace with marble surround and hearth. Opened up, these two rooms combined offer a vast space for entertaining.