Reres House, Reres Road, Dundee

Reres House, Dundee

Reres House is a picturesque villa dating to 1849, set on an irregular L-plan across two storeys with a basement. The building is constructed from snecked tooled rubble with ashlar dressings and a slate roof featuring some fishscale patterning. Decorative corniced stacks rise from the roof ridge, with linked octagonal forms at the centre and truncated examples elsewhere, topped with decorative cans. Exposed rafter ends and decorative bargeboards add to the ornamental character, whilst some original lead downpipes and straps survive.

The architecture employs considerable sculptural detail throughout. Band courses mark the ground floor, with stepped string courses and chamfered angles and openings creating visual interest. Windows are predominantly sash and case with plate glass in 4-, 8- and 12-pane configurations, though some have been replaced with stylised frames on the south and west elevations.

The east elevation comprises three bays. A gabled entrance porch with an open pointed arch sits at the right gable, with bipartite windows at the returns and flanking windows on the main elevation. A stepped string course marks the first floor with a window above. A narrow recessed bay on the left contains a large ground floor window with a dated scroll and moulding over the lintel and a first-floor window above. At the far left, a gable features paired gunport-type openings at ground floor and a window at first floor. A curtain wall at the far right displays a pointed arch, crowsteps, a tripartite opening, a heraldic shield and ball finials.

The south elevation is distinguished by a slightly advanced gable at the left with a bracketed and pierced balcony serving a hood-moulded window at ground floor, two windows at first floor and an opening at attic level. A corbelled canted window with moulded parapet sits at the right, with a gabled window at first floor. A recessed bay at the right contains a rectangular ground floor window and a first-floor window.

The west elevation displays considerable complexity. An advanced gable at the left contains windows at ground and first floors. A projecting gable at the right return is canted at ground floor and corbelled to square at first floor, each with a tripartite window and a small attic window. Three bays are recessed at the right with a segmental gable at the left featuring a tripartite window at ground floor and a bipartite window at first floor. The wallhead breaks through the eaves to form a round tower with corbels and a finialled conical roof. A gable at the right has a corniced tripartite window at ground floor and a window at first floor, with a similar gable further recessed at the far right but with a projecting tripartite window at ground floor.

The north elevation features an advanced bay at the right with four windows at ground floor, two at first floor and one at wallhead gable. A gable at the left return contains various windows and a door at the re-entrant angle. A recessed bay at the left includes a round-headed stair and other windows.

A coat house block is linked to the main house at the north-east corner by an arched curtain wall. This single-storey building with attic follows an L-plan and is constructed from snecked rubble with ashlar dressings and a slate roof. Windows are 6- and 8-pane casement and top-hopper types, with exposed rafter and purlin ends. Decorative bargeboards appear on the south and east elevations, though those on the west have been partially removed.

The west elevation of the coat house comprises two bays with a central door fitted with a fanlight, a window and a gunport-type opening at the left and a window at the right, with windows at first-floor gables. The south elevation features a slightly projecting gable at the right with a ground floor window and a corbelled attic window, a gunport-type opening at the left and windows at the far left interrupted by the arch of the linking curtain wall. The east gable contains a gunport-type opening at ground floor and a window at attic. The north elevation displays paired windows at the left within a blocked carriage opening surmounted by a gablehead, two windows at the right, and an advanced bay at the far right with three windows on the left return gable.

The garden walls comprise coped snecked rubble and ashlar. A terraced retaining wall on the south side features two flights of steps with some missing ball finials and a decorative cast-iron urn. Similar walls and steps appear on the west of the house and at the drying green to the north.

The interior contains a scale and platt staircase with highly decorative cast-iron balusters and octagonal newel posts, accompanied by a lincrusta dado. The stair window retains some heraldic stained glass, and an unusual chain-link pattern cornice appears at the landing with a festooned frieze. The drawing room ceiling is compartmentalised, painted and gilded with a repeated B motif in the cornice. The dining room ceiling displays a grained timber effect with painted mouldings. One marble Gothic Revival chimneypiece survives (one has been stolen), complemented by original panelled shutters and some early ornate pelmets. Decorative cast-iron balusters also appear on the back stairs, with some original chimneypieces retained at first-floor level.