11 Queen's Road, Aberdeen

11 Queen's Road, Aberdeen

This is a substantial 2-storey villa with basement and attic, built in 1875 by James Matthews. It displays Scots baronial detailing and has been subject to later additions and alterations. The building is constructed in tooled coursed grey granite, with finely finished dressings in contrasting light grey granite to the north-west elevation; the remainder is granite rubble. The design includes a base course, dividing band course, long and short dressings with chamfered reveals, eaves course, and crowstepped gables.

The north-west principal elevation is symmetrical and features an elaborate doorpiece at the centre of the ground floor. Low walls flank the doorway to left and right, forming plinths for the jambs; a roll-moulded segmental arch spans between with keystone detail, and a balustraded parapet with piers surmounted by spherical finials rises above. The doorway itself is roll-moulded and segmental-arched, with a panelled timber door and fanlight. At the centre of the first floor is a window, with an eaves blocking course and blind tablet to the centre. Gabled bays flank to left and right, each with a 3-light canted window to the ground floor forming a balcony to tripartite windows at first floor level. The centre light of each tripartite window is corniced with consoles, supporting a decorative trefoil-headed pediment, with stone finials to the apex of the gables. Curved outer angles to the ground floor support angle turrets corbelled-out to the first floor above, each with a window to the centre and conical roofs with fishscale slates topped by iron finials.

The south-west elevation is asymmetrical and 4-bay. An angle turret occupies the outer left, with a gabled bay to the left featuring a small opening at attic level. A tripartite window to the ground floor of the flanking bay to the right is answered by a stained glass tripartite window to the first floor above. The penultimate bay to the right is gabled with windows to ground and first floors, whilst a single window occupies the ground floor of the bay to the outer right.

The south-east elevation is asymmetrical and 3-bay. The bays to the right are predominantly obscured by a 20th-century harled addition, with a single window to the first floor of the centre bay and two gableted dormers to the attic floor; infill between includes a modern skylight. The bay to the left is gabled and features a bowed bay through basement, ground and first floors, forming a balcony to the attic floor. A doorway to the centre of the basement floor is flanked to left and right by single windows, with three windows to ground and first floors. A modern 2-light window is centred in the gablehead of the attic floor, corniced with a round-arched pediment bearing the initials "JS", with a stone finial to the apex of the gable.

The north-east elevation is asymmetrical with additions obscuring the ground floor of bays to the left. A gabled bay stepped forward to the left contains two louvred openings inset. Irregular fenestration occupies the centre bay, whilst the bay to the right is blank with an angle turret to the outer right.

Windows throughout are predominantly 2-pane timber sash and case. The roof is grey slate with lead and felt ridges. Corniced gableheads and ridge and wallhead stacks with circular cans complete the external finish. Cast-iron rainwater goods are present.

The interior is of good quality. The porch has a tiled floor; beyond is a round-arched inner doorway with a panelled timber door with glazed upper panes and fanlight, flanked by glazed round-arched panels to left and right. Segmental and round arches supported by columns (some polished pink and grey granite) and pilasters with dentil-moulded capitals lead to the lower and upper halls. A dog-leg stair with turned balusters and panelled newel posts is lit by a fine stained glass stair window. The principal room to the east of the ground floor retains highly decorative wall and ceiling mouldings, with cornices, skirting boards, mouldings, architraves and doors surviving to most principal rooms. Fireplaces have been removed.

An ancillary structure stands to the south-east of the villa. It is single storey and attic, L-plan, constructed in Aberdeen bond granite rubble with finely finished margins. Some openings are boarded-up; 12-pane timber sash and case windows and boarded timber doors are present. The grey slate roof features lead ridges and a coped ridge stack with octagonal cans. Cast-iron rainwater goods complete the structure.

Square-plan granite ashlar gatepiers to the north-west (shared with adjacent properties) are corniced with shallow pyramidal caps, with low coped rough-faced granite walls between. Granite and brick coped rubble walls extend to the remainder. Two square-plan ashlar gatepiers to the south-east wall have pyramidal caps, with boarded timber gates between.