Ashlea, 2 Victoria Street, Monifieth

Ashlea, located at 2 Victoria Street in Monifieth, is a building attributed to James MacLaren and dates from around 1870. It is a two-storey and attic structure with a three-bay, square plan and classical detailing. The exterior features coursed, snecked rubble with polished dressings and raised long and short chamfered quoins, topped with a slate roof.

The west elevation, which serves as the entrance, has a three-bay layout with a base course and cill course. At the center, there is a single-storey porch with clasping angle piers and a pilastered round-arched doorpiece to the south. This is complemented by a keystoned round-headed tripartite window and a platform roof with decorative brattishing. The windows include 2- and 4-pane sash and case designs, and there is a wallhead cornice with moulded rhones, which were replaced in glassfibre in 1988 but maintain the original style. The building features twin stacks with cornices.

The south elevation is symmetrical, showcasing margined windows. It has a central corniced window flanked by two canted windows with piend roofs. On the first floor, there is a single central light with flanking bipartite windows. Three gabled dormers with segmental windowheads were replaced in the original style by Rennie and Son of Kingennie in 1988.

The east elevation has a glazing pattern similar to the west, though one window has been altered. It features an off-set stack with a cornice and an adjoining curtain wall at the rear.

The north elevation includes an advanced bay on the left with a shouldered stack to the east, and there is a single-storey service wing that has been altered. A central transom and mullion stair window is round-headed with border glazing, while other windows are irregularly placed. The roofs are piend, and there is evidence of previously demolished additions.

Inside, the building boasts plaster cornices in the ground floor hall and public rooms, along with a painted marble chimneypiece in the dining room. The staircase is notable for its scale and features richly patterned cast-iron balusters leading to an unusually large landing.