Linthouse, photographed in 1870 by Thomas Annan.
City Chamberlain James Spreull built a mansion on the Linthouse estate in 1791, supposedly to plans by Robert Adam. Spreull sold the estate c 1820 to the banker Robert Watson of James & Robert Watson, and he made additions to the building.
The shipbuilders Alexander Stephens & Sons acquired Linthouse and its estate of 32 acres in 1869. The firm built its new Linthouse Shipyard there, and the house became the company's offices with a general store and a rivet store in the basement, and a model-makers' shop in the old billiards room. The building was demolished in 1921, but the portico (believed to be of Adam's design) was preserved and re-erected in Elder Park, where it remains in 2004.
Reference: Sp Coll Dougan Add. 73
Glasgow University Library, Special Collections
Keywords:
Alexander Stephen & Sons, country houses, Linthouse, Linthouse Shipyard, mansions, offices, porticos