Knowehead House, Ferntower Road, Crieff

Knowehead House, Ferntower Road, Crieff

A two-storey villa with attic, designed by J Murray Robertson in 1885, set on sloping ground falling to the southwest. The building is rectangular in plan with three bays and displays stick style references combined with carved colonial reliefs and elaborate Shavian red brick stacks.

The external walls are constructed of stugged squared rubble with droved ashlar quoins and margins. A raised base and droved band courses are pargeted, and the eaves feature a cavetto cornice. Stone mullions are used throughout the windows.

The principal southwest elevation is symmetrical. Steps with flanking dwarf walls lead to a set-back centre bay containing a three-part timber-posted verandah at each floor. The ground floor has a bipartite opening with a part-glazed door and deep fanlight to the left and a window to the right (appearing as a door). Above is a similar French window below a swept roof. A pyramidally-roofed dormer above is tripartite with dominant flanking stacks. The piend-roofed outer bays have projecting tripartite windows with glazed returns at each floor. Ground floor windows feature a pelmet or blind-effect at windowhead, while the first floor displays apron panels of diagonally-coursed ashlar flanking relief-carved panels. The right panel depicts a camel, male figure and palm trees, while the left shows a crouching tiger, native figure and palm trees.

The northwest entrance elevation has a centre bay with a full-height pyramidally-roofed porch featuring half-timbering and decorative plasterwork. A four-light timber transomed window sits at ground level over a timber base, with a panelled timber door on the return to the right and similar glazing to the left return. The first floor has a bipartite window and single light to each return. Flanking bays contain a bipartite window to the right and tripartite window to the left at ground level, with a small piended bipartite dormer window to the right.

The southeast elevation has an advanced piended bay to the right of centre with a tripartite window and glazed returns to each floor. A door in the re-entrant angle to the left is closely aligned with a window beyond it. A modern door, altered from a window, appears above on the re-entrant, with a flat-roofed dormer to the left. These features are situated behind a dog-leg fire escape stair.

The northeast elevation is slightly altered, with three single-storey piended projections. The projection to the right features a four-light window below a shallow horizontal four-light dormer on the return to the right. A broad decorative chimney breast pierces the eaves into a tall stack.

Windows throughout are decoratively astragalled with two-, four- and six-pane glazing patterns to upper sashes over plate glass lower sashes in timber sash and case windows. Coloured glass appears in the stair window and top lights of the porch. The roof is covered with graded grey Glenalmond slates. Banded, coped red brick stacks are present with a full complement of cans and decorative cast-iron finials.

The interior retains a fine original decorative scheme in both Eastern/Indian and classical styles. Decorative plasterwork is prominent throughout, with some fitted cupboards featuring decoratively-astragalled display shelves. Timber fire surrounds with carved overmantels and some original wall-light fittings survive. Ventilators for an air conditioning system are present. The porch has a mosaic-patterned floor and screen door. The stair hall features turned timber detailing with a dog-leg staircase having turned timber balusters and ball-finalled newels. Coloured leaded glass appears in the lower sashes of the bipartite stair window, and some internal doors also feature coloured leaded glass.

A terraced garden with a sundial adjoins the house. The rubble terrace walls face southwest. The sundial has a columnar base carved with the inscription 'EARTH CHANGES, BUT THY SOUL AND GOD STAND SURE'.

The boundary walls are constructed as saddleback-coped stepped rubble. Square-section ashlar gatepiers with pyramidally-coped reduced top stages are carved on each face with a semicircular design and 'KNOWEHEAD' on the outer faces. Decorative two-leaf ironwork gates complete the boundary treatment.