Sherwood, 583 Anniesland Road, Glasgow

Sherwood is one of a pair of semi-detached houses at 583 Anniesland Road, Glasgow, designed by Malcolm Stark around 1887. Built in the Arts and Crafts style, Sherwood and its neighbour Ainslea (No. 585) are two-storey and attic buildings with rectangular plans and roughly symmetrical form. Ainslea was extended in 1891 with a two-storey, single bay addition to the west.

The main elevations employ squared, snecked and tooled sandstone at ground floor level, with white-painted render and timber framing above at first floor. The gableheads on front and rear elevations are supported on timber brackets. All timber framing is painted black. The rear elevations are rendered and painted white. Red brick corbelled chimney stacks rise prominently above the eaves on the east and west gables, with a further tall stack on the rear elevation. Cast iron rainwater goods include decorative Arts and Crafts hopper heads on the down pipes. The steeply pitched roofs are finished in grey-green slate.

Both houses present two-bay entrances on the north elevation, with Ainslea's additional outer bay to the west. Sherwood's entrance features a timber bracketed penticed slate porch, while Ainslea's entrance is set within a projecting stone porch decorated with a carved frieze and stepped hoodmould above the door. Both entrances have panelled two-leaf timber outer doors and partially glazed timber inner doors, flanked by small leaded windows. The prominent outer bays have three-light canted windows at ground floor beneath half-piended slate roofs and tripartite windows at first floor, topped by overhanging timber frame gableheads. Between these gables sits a four-light attic dormer window. Windows throughout are predominantly timber sash and case, either four over four or with single pane lowers and small-pane upper sashes.

The west elevation of Ainslea features a broad gabled bay with full-height ashlar three-light canted window rising to the gablehead. Above the ground floor window is a decorative carved panel inscribed with the date 1891, with a wrought-iron Art Nouveau window box above. The gable is timber framed and the main roof pitch extends over it to form a jerkinhead roofline.

The rear elevations are roughly symmetrical and two bays wide. A contemporary single storey outbuilding with piend roof and square plan is attached to the rear, with non-traditional windows providing garden access. Ainslea has a historic rectangular-plan glass conservatory at its southwestern corner with garden access.

The interiors, examined in 2017, retain extensive Arts and Crafts detailing in timber and plasterwork. Geometric motifs recur throughout in the principal staircases' fretwork, doors, fireplaces, ceilings, fanlights and glazing patterns. Moulded architraves, timber panelling and overmantels are characteristic fixtures. Both dining rooms contain timber inglenook fireplaces within arched recesses with built-in seating and shelving, flanked by small rectangular coloured leaded glass windows with floral patterns. Sherwood's inglenook retains its integral timber seats. The staircases feature elaborate and decorative lights mounted on newel posts at ground and first floor levels. A decorative plaster cornice with sunflower motif appears in the sitting rooms of both houses. Both master bedrooms have semi-vaulted plaster relief coffered ceilings.

Boundary walls are low saddleback coped stone. Each house entrance is marked by a pair of tall square-plan gatepiers inscribed with the property name and quatrefoil iron gates. Sherwood's northeastern access drive retains a traditional decorative iron gate and latch mechanism, while Ainslea's western access drive has a replacement gate.

The detached garage to the east of Sherwood and outbuildings to the southwest of Ainslea are excluded from the listing.