One Devonshire Gardens was established in 1986 as one of the
first boutique town house hotels in the UK. The hotel quickly
became renowned for its opulence, service and style and twenty
years on is still regarded as one of Scotland's finest with an impressive
list of awards to its name.
The hotel is set in a tree-lined terrace 'Devonshire Gardens' in a
series of converted Victorian town houses which were originally built
in 1886 for wealthy ship merchants of the city. In order to attract the
cream of Glasgow's society, the developers of the West End had to offer
the highest standard of suburban building.
Development in the West End first took the form of classical villas and
imposing rows of terraced houses which catered for the needs of the
wealthy families with numerous servants. The terraces were built
primarily of cream-coloured local sandstone in graceful crescents,
often complemented by landscaped gardens and ornamental cast-iron
railings.
In the second half of the nineteenth century Glasgow had a plethora
of gifted architects who were capable of providing designs for these
superlative buildings. They included the renowned Alexander 'Greek'
Thomson and Charles Rennie Mackintosh whose house at 78 Southpark
Avenue was demolished in 1963. The interior features were stored
away for nearly 20 years before being reconstructed to form part of
the Huntarian Art Gallery at Glasgow University (within walking distance
of the hotel).
Glasgow's Victorian and Edwardian architectural heritage is
spread throughout the city, but nowhere is it as diverse and concentrated
as in the West End. The West End has the finest of the city's terraced
houses, in addition to having its own collection of impressive villas and
superior tenement blocks.
Extract on West End taken from www.gordonurquhart.com
Gordon is the author of "Along Great Western Road".
