31 Canmore Street, Dunfermline

The building at 31 Canmore Street, Dunfermline, is an earlier 19th-century villa that has been altered and extended in the later 19th century, and refurbished in 1999. It is two storeys and a basement and attic in height, with a rectangular plan and originally three bays, later extended by a bay to the east. The design is symmetrical, featuring a classical entrancepiece with attached fluted columns supporting an entablature. The principal north elevation is constructed of painted, coursed stugged sandstone with sandstone ashlar dressings, while the rear is of less finely coursed sandstone. A prominent base course, a band course above the ground floor, and an eaves cornice are present on the north elevation.

The north elevation displays the original three-bay villa to the right. The central entrance features a six-panel timber door with a rectangular fanlight, flanked by attached fluted columns and an entablature. Windows are located to either side of the ground and first floors, and one window above. A mullioned bipartite window is visible on the ground and first floors of the later 19th-century addition to the outer left.

The south elevation has a near-central entrance to the original block with a panelled timber door. Stair windows are located above it on two levels to the right. A window is present on the ground and first floors of the bay to the left, where a canted bay has been inserted into the right-hand window during later 19th-century alterations. A large bipartite window is centrally positioned on the ground and first floors; flanking windows are situated on the first floor and entrances – possibly originally windows – are on the ground floor. A decorative cast-iron balcony, supported by scrolled brackets, is attached to the first floor. The later 19th-century addition on the outer right has an identical canted bay, although the ground floor arrangement here comprises a central entrance (possibly originally bipartite) with flanking windows. A pair of polygonal piended dormers have been inserted into the attic of the original block, one to the left and one to the right.

The west elevation has been altered at ground floor level, with a blocked entrance and an inserted window visible to the left, and a window to the right of centre on the first floor.

The windows are 12-pane timber sash and case windows. A grey slate roof covers the building, with three corniced ridge stacks – one to either side of the original block (including the west gablehead), and one to the east addition. Round cans are present where stacks remain.

The interior was substantially altered during the 1999 refurbishment work. A winding staircase, featuring a cast-iron balustrade with a timber handrail, remains.