35 Camperdown Street, Broughty Ferry, Dundee

35 Camperdown Street, Broughty Ferry, Dundee

A 2-storey house with attic and basement, designed by Charles Ower and dated 1890, with rear additions made in 1901. The building is of basically square plan. The south and east elevations are constructed of bull-faced coursers with red sandstone ashlar dressings, while other elevations are of snecked rubble with the same ashlar dressings. The roof is of slate, steeply pitched with a platform design, incorporating dormers and French roofs with finials and brattishing on the south and east elevations.

The south elevation features a rectangular 5-light full-height projecting window at the left, with a deeply bracketed cill at first floor and moulded lintel with panels above. A bay on the right contains a single basement window, tripartite window at ground floor, bipartite window at first floor, and a dormer. The east elevation is 5-bay and asymmetrical, with an advanced entrance bay at the centre containing large 2-leaf doors at basement level, a window at ground floor, and a partially blocked stained glass window at first floor beneath a multi-pane piended dormer in a pyramidal roof with deep bracketed eaves. A 2-leaf door at the left return has approaching steps and a glazed canopy with a large inscribed lintel. The far left bay displays a basement window and an inscribed moulded panel reading 'Cyandy 1955, Dr S L Siegler, Dr E W K Andrau', with a panel at first floor reading '1890, C Ower, Archt'. The far right bay contains two ground floor windows and a bracketed dormerhead at first floor. A chimney breast with tall shoulders above eaves, corbelled at first floor, rises above the roofline.

The west elevation is 4-bay and asymmetrical. At the centre is a canted bay with a single window at ground floor and a tripartite stained glass stair window at first floor with polygonal roof. A bracketed rectangular oriel window is positioned at the left, with bracketed cill and lintel; at the right return is a 'CMO' cipher in a panel, moulded eaves, piended roof, and 2 rooflights. A 2-storey lean-to addition occupies the far left. The north elevation, part of the 1901 addition, comprises a flat roof at left, piended bay at centre, lean-to at right, and a box dormer at the main house.

Windows throughout include large single-pane casements with 2 fixed stained glass panels at the top on the south elevation, various glazing elsewhere, and canted oriel windows on the west, mostly with stop-chamfered architraves.

A rubble wall to the south supports two square-section gatepiers with moulded ball finial caps and banding.

The interior retains largely original features throughout. The entrance porch has a patterned tile floor, stained glass window, and panelled dado, with an inscribed stone over the door and a glass door featuring an etched design of an artist's palette and fleur-de-lis with a classical pediment design in the window above. The study contains a carved timber chimneypiece with later grate, flanking timber presses, and floral cornice. The dining room features a carved timber chimneypiece, tiled grate with brass canopy, moulded door lintels, cornices with acanthus and bay leaf design, and a fully shelved pantry.

The hall and staircase are notable for their painted Art-Nouveau anaglypta dado, scale and platt stairs with carved wheel balusters, and two ornate column lamp fittings. The canted tripartite stair window at first floor contains pointed tracery and stained glass figural representations of science, architecture, and art. Corniced lintels frame the landing doors and the stair to the attic, which has turned balusters and early brass fittings marked 'GASS'.

The drawing room contains carved timber chimneypieces with fluted columns, galleried lintels over the door, and a coomb ceiling with plain cornices. Stained glass panels appear at the top of the principal room windows.

The building was designed and constructed by Charles Ower (circa 1849–1921), architect, for his own residence, and was originally named Benora. The canted stair window and rectangular oriel on the west elevation were not shown on the original drawings but were added during construction. The inscription above the front door reads: 'God grant that passers here below be holy, happy, healthy, hearty, handy, thrifty'. The inscription above the inside of the front door lists the contractors employed: 'The contractors employed in the erection of this house are Thomas G Bruce, mason, Monifieth; Thomas C Stocks, joiner, Dundee; Alexander Lamond, slater; William Murray, plumber, Broughty Ferry; Alex McRitchie, plasterer, Dundee; Anson Wood, Inspector of Works'.