It's one of Glasgow's secret houses - you could walk right past it and never know it was there. But you'd be missing a golden opportunity to own one of the finest examples of the Glasgow style, lovingly restored to its former glory by West End artist Nancy Smillie.
She discovered the house by accident in 1982 when a friend was looking to set up a shop near Byres Road. It was advertised as a possible commercial property, but when Nancy looked up and saw the windows she immediately recognised its potential to be much more.
To begin with it was pretty much a shell - the remnants of an extension built on to a main house, to be used as a card room and billiard room. The original designs are in fact part of the history of the city, housed in Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.
Designed in 1910 by Glasgow architect John Edney, the house still had many of the original features, including a copper-fronted fireplace extending over almost an entire wall. Nancy knew almost immediately what she wanted to do with it.
''The house itself almost dictated what had to be done,'' she said. ''All the original features were still in place, and I wanted to keep and enjoy them. I've incorporated that style into the two bedrooms I've added.
''It took about a year to get it all together, but it was a nice project for me. It was good to work as closely as possible to the original style. It really is a pleasure watching a place like this gradually come back to all its former glory.''
While the house is set far enough back to be well away from the noise and traffic of Byres Road, it is only a few minutes' walk away. It's situated in Athole Lane, near Athole Gardens, but you'll have to look closely to find it.
From the outside it looks almost like a garage, until you see, as Nancy did, the beautiful Mackintosh windows above you. On the inside there's more space than you would think.
''One of the things I love about the place is that its like Dr Who's Tardis,'' said Nancy. ''There is so much light and space and room. It made a perfect workshop for me.
''I call it my secret house, it's so peaceful and hidden. I've enjoyed every minute of my time here. The only thing consoling me in letting it go is the fact that my new house is every bit as fabulous.''
Although the house has not been placed on the market as yet, Nancy is in the process of selecting an estate agent and putting the wheels in motion.
Price has not yet been determined, but it is expected to be around #130,000, which is not a bad price to pay to own one of the most spectacular examples of the city's architecture on the market.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article