Viewforth House, 1-13 St Ninian's Road, Stirling

Viewforth House is a substantial building developed in phases from 1855 to 2000, now serving as council offices. The complex comprises three distinct sections: the original villa to the west, a later 19th-century extension to the south-east, and a large early 20th-century office block to the east.

The original villa was designed by J W Hay in 1855 as a two-storey and attic asymmetrical building. It was extended and partially remodelled around 1871, and a major 18-bay office block was added in 1936-37 by James Miller. The building underwent partial refurbishment in 2000 by Hugh Anderson Design of Glasgow.

The villa sections are executed in Baronial style with crowstepped gables throughout, including on dormers. The larger gables are topped with ball finials. Larger windows feature mullions, and turrets at attic or first-floor level have mostly pyramid roofs. The west elevation of the original villa has an open-sided porch supported on granite columns with foliate capitals. The office section is flat-roofed with regular bays. Windows are slightly recessed within vertical bands divided horizontally by herringbone brickwork on the south and east elevations. The south elevation has a full-height three-bay entrance with fluted abstracted pilasters.

The villa sections are built of coursed stugged sandstone with sandstone ashlar dressings. The office extension is brick with ashlar dressings. Base courses and eaves courses run throughout the villa sections. The eaves course on the south elevation of the later 19th-century addition is moulded into several bands and partially bracketed as the base of a parapet. String courses run above ground floor level on the principal elevations of the later 19th-century addition and remodelled sections. The office extension has a base course up to cill level on its south and east elevations. Most windows on the west elevation of the original villa have chamfered or chamfered and stopped reveals.

The west villa entrance elevation is primarily two-storey and attic, with four bays. The original block projects at the centre. A slightly projecting two-bay section stands to the left, both bays gabled. To the right of this is an entrance with a rectangular-plan open-sided porch added in the later 19th century. It features three segmental-headed arches with cable-moulded reveals to each side, supported on four polished granite columns with foliate heads. A raised panel carved with a coat of arms sits at the centre of the parapet above the larger front arch. The architraved entrance is set back with replacement boarded timber doors and rectangular fanlight. Above is a two-sided canted bipartite window with a thistle finial. The first floor has a window to the right of the left bay and a mullioned five-light window to a bartizan at the outer left. Windows appear on each floor in the two bays slightly set back to the right.

A gabled bay is set back at the outer left, with the ground floor dating to 1855 and upper floors added in the later 19th century. It has a mullioned tripartite window at ground level with a blank panel centred above, two windows on the first floor, and a small attic window with projecting masonry creating a hood-mould effect. A slightly projecting two-storey tower at the outer left has a crenellated bracketed parapet and narrow first-floor window. Set back to the outer right is a semi-gabled bay with raised pediment at the apex, part of the later 19th-century addition, with windows to the right of ground and first floors. A slightly projecting three-storey tower at the outer right has a bracketed frieze and tall pyramid roof with fishscale tiles, swept at the eaves and surmounted by a wrought-iron finial. A narrow attic window appears in the projecting upper storey.

The south office entrance elevation has the villa section to the left. A three-bay later 19th-century addition stands to the right with a wide projecting bay to the left and slightly projecting gabled section at the centre. This features a five-light mullioned canted window with panelled parapet at ground level, a recessed mullioned bipartite above, and an attic window surmounted by a strapwork panel in the gable. Flanking slightly projecting three-storey towers at the angles each have a bracketed frieze and tall pyramid roof with fishscale tiles, swept at the eaves and surmounted by wrought-iron finials. Narrow attic windows appear in the projecting upper storeys. The right return has a narrow attic window in the tower.

A two-bay section set back to the right has windows on each floor, those at ground level being mullioned bipartites and those in the attic being gabled breaking-eaves dormers. The outer right return of the villa section has windows on each floor. Set back to the outer left is a single gabled bay of the original main block with a full-height projecting section at centre. This has a mullioned tripartite at ground level, a canted mullioned five-light window on the first floor, and a small mullioned bipartite in the gable. Windows appear on each floor of each bay of the 1930s office extension set back to the far right, except for the three-bay entrance to the right of centre and the fifth bay from left and fourth bay from right, both of which have entrances with deep architraves and block pediments at ground level with windows above. Original two-leaf panelled timber doors have panels with incised lines creating a linenfold effect, and original glazed inner doors remain intact.

The entrance has flanking projecting brick pilaster strips that project above the roof and are surmounted by a block pediment above a frieze. Bays are divided by full-height fluted pilasters with abstracted capitals. Incised vertical lines appear on panels in the horizontal divisions between windows. Moulded acroteria run along the apex. A shield with a coat of arms sits at the centre. Windows appear on each floor of each bay except the central bay at ground level, which has a moulded copper architrave with frieze surmounted by acroteria, original decorated copper grille outer doors, and glazed inner doors. Flanking statues of William Wallace and Robert the Bruce stand on pedestals, detached from the building and formerly situated at the main villa entrance on the west elevation.

The north elevation has the villa section to the outer right. A four-bay projecting section at the centre has a ground floor from 1855 with upper floors added in the later 19th century. A slightly projecting two-storey tower with crenellated bracketed parapet at the outer right arris has a blocked entrance dated 1855 at ground level and narrow first-floor window. A gabled bay set back with bracketed parapet at the apex has windows on each floor, the attic window surmounted by a strapwork panel and pediment. A two-bay section set back slightly to the left has windows on each floor. The left return has a gabled bay with attic window. A bay in the parapetted section to the left has mullioned bipartites on each floor, the right light of the ground-floor window serving as an entrance. An adjoining canted bay has windows on each floor, as does the adjoining bay which has a breaking-eaves gabled dormer in the attic.

A gabled section set back to the left has two large windows at ground level, three narrow first-floor windows, and an attic window in the gable. A gabled projecting section set back to the original main block at the far right has mullioned bipartites at ground and first floors. The 1930s office section projects to the left with a harled bay at the outer right and two seven-bay sections to the left divided by a rectangular-plan wing projecting at the centre.

The east elevation is the three-bay end elevation of the 1930s office extension. A central entrance has a deep architrave with block pediment and original two-leaf panelled timber door with glazed inner doors. A window appears above with windows on each floor in the flanking bays.

The villa sections have mainly two-pane timber sash and case windows. The 1930s office extension has 15-pane and 20-pane metal-framed windows with top hoppers. The villa sections have grey slate roofs; the flat roof of the office addition is not visible. A prominent projecting wallhead stack with two tall coped individual flues, one circular-plan and one octagonal, stands on the west elevation of the original villa main block, along with a tall coped gablehead stack. Three coped gablehead stacks appear on the east side of the later 19th-century villa section. Additional coped stacks stand at junctions between villa sections. Round cans appear where in existence.

The interior contains impressive and ornate detailing, largely of later 19th-century date, in the villa sections. The large room with bay window to the south, used as the Members' Lounge in 2001, has elaborate cornicing and plasterwork decoration. Attached columns behind the window mullions are each surmounted by plasterwork foliate capitals with plasterwork panels above. Ornate ceiling rosettes and horses and foliage decorate the ceiling. Decorative plasterwork adorns the walls, and an elaborate marble fireplace surround incorporates fruit and flowers. Decorative cornicing appears in the hall at the main entrance vestibule and hallway, with geometric-patterned tiles on the vestibule floor.

An imposing open-well staircase has a decorative cast-iron balustrade with twisted balusters. The highly decorated coved ceiling above has a pitched rooflight at the apex. Plaster panels incorporating geometric floral motifs decorate the ceiling, with pendant bosses at the base of the rooflight and roundels containing plaster heads in high relief above. The villa sections are largely modernised elsewhere.

The earlier 20th-century office section was partially and sympathetically refurbished in 2000. The entrance vestibule has panelled walls and glazed inner doors with brass handles set into a glazed screen. The hallway and reception area have composite panelling on the walls and a pair of flanking octagonal vitrolite columns, a large flat multi-pane rooflight, and the original pendant light fitting retained. The council chamber was entirely refurbished in 2000, retaining the rooflight and adding new timber panelling to the walls and a built-in timber serving area with flanking glass doors set into glazed panels.

The Bruce and Wallace Rooms, used as meeting rooms, have original timber panelling with walnut veneer frieze and dado and plain composite fireplace surrounds. The original staircase remains at the east end.

The entrance gateways and boundary wall to the west comprise a coped rubble and coursed rubble boundary wall with segmentally-recessed sections at the entrances to north and south. Both entrances have flanking rectangular-plan sandstone ashlar gatepiers. Those to the north have a frieze, cornice, and squared coping. Those to the south, where the entrance has been enlarged, have a frieze, cornice, and raised coping surmounted by spiked ball finials.