Location
Broughty Ferry, Dundee
Building
Category B-listed house, 1835
Date
2019–2023
Type
Historic windows and external joinery
Nature of work
Restoration of sash, casement and metal windows; FINEO vacuum glazing; timber repairs to fascias and soffits
Role
Contractor – conservator
Client
Private client
Context and aim
Over several phases between 2019 and 2023, we restored the historic windows of Harecraig House in Dundee: timber sash and casement windows as well as metal casements, including a distinctive curved window restored using linseed oil. The work combined careful repair of original joinery and ironwork with improvements to comfort and performance, including the installation of FINEO vacuum glazing, which brings thermal efficiency comparable to triple glazing while keeping the slim profiles of the historic glazing bars.
Alongside the windows, we carried out timber repairs to the house’s external joinery, including fascias and soffits, using traditional techniques and compatible materials to protect the building from the weather while preserving its character.
About the property
Harecraig House is a Category B-listed house built in 1835 to designs by the architect George Mathewson, originally as a dower house for the Douglas and Angus Estates. Between 1928 and 1947 it is thought to have been home to the architect Charles Geddes Soutar, who made a number of alterations, including the drawing room fireplace with its blue Persian tiles.
Standing on a clifftop on the main road into Broughty Ferry, with wide views over the Tay, the house had lain empty for several years and was in significant disrepair when its current owners bought it in 2019. Making it wind and watertight came first: the roof, the walls, and windows that had been replaced around 1980 and no longer kept out the weather. The restoration has since been recognised with a Dundee Civic Trust conservation commendation.
Source: The Courier, 23 January 2025
In the press · The Courier · 23 January 2025
Harecraig House: Prominent Broughty Ferry clifftop home is a labour of love for its new owners
The Courier’s feature on the restoration of the house, which mentions our window work and the FINEO glazing.
Gallery
The house before the works
Harecraig House in 2019, after several years empty.
Photo: rear ranges and curved oriel window before the works
Photo: garden front with failing harling and weathered sash windows
Photo: side elevation before restoration, with patched render and worn joinery
Condition before treatment
Flaking paint, weathered sills and worn glazing bars.
Photo: sash window before treatment
Photo: decayed meeting rail with its original fastener and crumbling putty
Photo: cracked and flaking paint on a sash and its frame
Photo: paint failure and weathered timber at the base of a sash
During the works
Repairs, new joinery, draught-proofing and FINEO vacuum glazing.
Video: draught-proofing seal fitted around a restored sash
Photo: FINEO vacuum glazing being fitted into a restored casement
Photo: splice repair in new timber on a sash
Photo: new glazing bars and mouldings, primed and ready for assembly
Photo: casement frame with new timber repairs and draught-proofing seal
After restoration
Restored windows with FINEO vacuum glazing.
Photo: the gable after restoration, with its arched, casement and sash windows reinstalled
Photo: restored sash window with brass fittings, in the workshop
Photo: small casement reinstalled in the gable wall
Photo: pair of restored casements with their glazing bars
Photo: the dormer bay window, fully restored
Photo: restored sash windows on the rear elevation
Photo: restored windows on the rear ranges, including the curved oriel
Photo: curved window after restoration with linseed oil
Photo: pair of restored casement doors with brass cremorne bolts
Photo: polished brass cremorne bolt on a restored casement
Photo: iron fastener on a restored window
Harecraig House today
Photo: Harecraig House after restoration
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