34 Springfield, Dundee

34 Springfield is a group of houses constructed between 1828 and 1851, initially feued in 1830-1831. The layout was subsequently modified to exclude Springfield House. The development forms a Neo-classical cul-de-sac stepped up from the sea, culminating in a semi-detached house to the north and short terraces fronting Perth Road.

Numbers 5 to 14 and 18 to 27 are arranged as two-storey and basement houses, stepped in pairs. Each pair features a central tetrastyle Doric portico and originally had wrought and cast-iron balconies above (most are now absent). The windows are set within lugged architraves, corniced at ground level, with first-floor sill courses. A main cornice and balustrade runs along the tops of the buildings. The lower pairs are alternately advanced and recessed, while the later upper pairs are on the same plane. All but the recessed pairs have north ends defined by pilaster strips.

Numbers 15 and 16 are similarly styled but include a full-length ground floor colonnade. A modern addition has been made to the west of Number 15. Numbers 17 and 28 are single, three-bay houses with a portico on the left-hand side; Number 17 is connected to Number 16 by a one-storey link.

The houses facing Perth Road (Numbers 1 to 4 and 29 to 32) are symmetrical eight-bay structures, with the two end bays slightly advanced. They share a similar design to the other properties, including central tetrastyle porticos. Number 1 is angled to accommodate Perth Road and features a trabeated porch on the side. Number 32 has a later hemispherical, pilastered bow rising through the ground and first floors. Number 3 has a mullioned window and a restored balustrade.

The corner houses (facing both Perth Road and Springfield) are two bays wide on Perth Road and three bays wide on Springfield, and are of a similar style. Number 4 includes a central portico and a panelled wallhead stack on the Springfield side, with a recently restored balustrade. Number 29 has a portico on the right-hand side, with a wallhead stack that has been partly dismantled to make way for a later slate mansard roof with consoled dormers.

The windows are generally sash and case, with most being later two-pane, although some are four- or twelve-pane, and others are more modern. The roofs are low-piended and slate-covered, with ridge stacks. The rear of the buildings are constructed of rubble.

Some well-preserved, plastered Ionic interiors remain. The original iron railings are missing. Deeds from January 1830 and March 1831 refer to the feuing of the land “according to a much approved plan by an eminent architects in Edinburgh".