When Liz and Peter Davison moved with their children to a four-storey Glasgow townhouse they realised they needed to think big

BEFORE moving to Woodside Place in Glasgow’s Park district four years ago, Liz and Peter Davison had lived in a 6,000sq ft house they had built themselves, with a large garden and in a beautiful setting.

But their three children – Stephanie, 23, Danielle, 19, and Simon, 16 – wanted to spend more time in Glasgow as they grew up... It was time for a change of scene.

When Peter saw that this four-storey townhouse – 14 Woodside Place – was for sale, Liz wasn’t keen on the idea of living so close to the city centre. And then she viewed the property. “When I came to see the house, I fell in love with it,” she says.

Coming from a substantial house with large rooms, the scale of this property was immediately appealing, however the level of period detailing was a new experience, from the drawing room on the ground level with its ornate plasterwork ceiling and dado panelling to the master bedroom on the first floor – which would originally have been designed as the drawing room – with its elaborately detailed marble fireplace and even more plasterwork above. There are fireplaces throughout, from the richly veined marble surround in Stephanie’s bedroom on the top floor to the simple stone surround in the dining room at ground level. Coming from a new build, the Davisons, who run their own financial services business, couldn’t have embraced a more different architectural aesthetic.

Yet in terms of the interior, number 14 has proved to be a great fit for Liz’s contemporary-meets-traditional style. The townhouse has not always been residential: number 14 was once an NHS clinic before being converted back to residential use. Although the property was in walk-in condition when the Davisons arrived, as Liz says: “I love doing up houses so I had to put my own stamp on it.”

The couple made the biggest impact aesthetically downstairs, on the garden level, where they redesigned the kitchen and adjoining family room. The design for the kitchen started with the granite Liz chose for the worktops. “We had Star Galaxy granite in our last kitchen and you could see every fingermark; I swore, never again,” she says. This granite, in Asterix from Blythe Marble, has a subtle coppery-brown hue running through it. “It was quite a new colour at the time and it cost more than the kitchen!” Liz admits.

Having used Dullatur-based MJM Builders on their previous house, the couple used them again, and they sourced the kitchen for them. The cream units and co-ordinating large-profile porcelain floor tiles are contemporary yet timeless, while Elica’s ‘Star’ cooker hood adds a glamorous touch. “We had a huge chandelier in our last kitchen, and I liked that idea here of having something that looks like a chandelier while working as an extractor,” she says.

The brick fireplace and wood-burning stove were already here and add a rustic touch, yet the contrast works. The button-backed armchairs also hint at a more-traditional style, and the look is carried through into the family area with the matching ottoman. Liz sourced these pieces from Margaret Boyd Interiors, along with the cabriole leg console table positioned as you walk through the archway into the family room, while the giant L-shaped sofa looks made for this space although it came here from the Davisons’ last home. Walnut flooring adds visual warmth, while the contemporary fireplace offers a contrast to the period surrounds elsewhere with a simple granite surround and inset Gazco fire.

The end result is a fantastic family zone, and while there is much to admire in this townhouse, this lower level remains a highlight as it is the space people naturally gravitate towards. The couple also replaced the French doors that lead from the kitchen into the rear garden – in fact there are four sets of French doors, one on each floor, all of which were replaced, and these access balconies on the three floors above.

There is a second fabulous console – the Cross console table, combined with tall column lamps and a statement vase, all from Margaret Boyd – in the hallway as you enter, and this space taught Liz a lesson about choosing furniture for this townhouse: the need to scale up. “I’d used the console table and mirror from our previous house here, but they looked ridiculous,” she recalls. Even the chandelier here – a Christopher Way design to which Liz added the black and gold shades – is dramatically overscaled. All of which illustrates how big this townhouse is, yet Liz’s eye for furniture and accessories has made this interior gel. Many of the couple’s existing items of furniture did fit here as if chosen for these rooms, from the marble-topped dining table and console in the dining room (bought at Sterling Furniture) to the couple’s beautifully carved Georgian four-poster from And So To Bed.

The three huge windows along the front elevation of the master bedroom bathe the room in light, and the effect is enhanced by pale walls and plush cream carpeting as well as the mirrored pieces that Liz added, all from Designworks in Glasgow.

This entire first floor level is given over to the master suite, with Stephanie, Danielle and Simon’s bedrooms on the floor above. The master bedroom leads into a spacious en suite shower room with a striking shower enclosure formed by curved walls clad in cobalt blue mosaics, and the en suite dressing room is even bigger. Although the Davisons did extensive work on the garden level, the rest of the house simply needed furniture, window treatments and fresh decoration. The couple were lucky to inherit such great bathrooms: Danielle’s en suite features tobacco-hued tiling and a giant walk-in shower enclosure behind a glass panel, while the family bathroom has Travertine tiling and sculptural Alessi fittings.

Liz has added impact to the bedrooms with bold wallpapers from Laura Ashley and ivory-painted furniture in her daughters’ bedrooms, creating an elegant, French-style feel. Even in the more formal drawing room, Liz shied away from dark furniture, favouring a creamy-toned palette punctuated by flashes of red in the artworks and tall golden lamps that frame the fireplace – pieces she picked up from a favourite interior design shop in Portugal, where the couple built another house.

“I wanted to keep things light,” Liz reflects. “I think these neutral colours just work.”

Four years on, it’s time for another change of scene. Asked what she’ll miss about number 14, Liz cites the incredible period detailing, and, as she says: “It feels like a very homely home.” k

Offers over £825,000; contact Corum (0141-357 1888, www.corumproperty.co.uk)