Lochbuie, a … large house with stables, was … designed by Robert Valiance and his partner, Louis Westwick, in 1907 for a Mr R.H.Wiggins. The houses in the Park and Park Avenue were built between 1891 and 1912, on land belonging to the Manor of Mansfield for prominent local people. Of these residences, The Ridge and Lochbuie, situated on the brow of a hill, are the best examples. Standing in extensive grounds with mature trees, these houses stand out in the conservation area, which otherwise comprises smaller semi-detached houses of the 1870s and 1880s built of Mansfield stone, Midland Imperial red brick, and slate roofs, and mock-Tudor houses of the 1920s, much 'improved' in recent years. But Lochbuie and The Ridge were the forerunners of these; large detached houses with coach houses, in an eclectic English vernacular style revived by George Devey in the 1860s… The style in the Mansfield houses is less confidently handled, perhaps, than by Devey or Richard Norman Shaw, but nevertheless instantly recognisable as the style popular at the turn of the century and later. The houses are - reminiscent, too, of the work of Nottingham architect Watson Fothergill (1841-1928), whose style was 'an idiosyncratic combination of polychrome Gothic and half-timbering.’ Fothergill's offices in George Street, Nottingham (1894-5), and the Queens Chambers, Long Row, Nottingham (1897), were both clearly an inspiration to Valiance, with their eclectic mix of octagonal castellated tower, half-timbered gables with carved barge boards, brick banding and oriel windows characterising the architecture. Lochbuie may have original features inside. Plans have survived for both buildings and could be used to aid restoration. (1)

Two storeys plus attic. Red brick with stone dressing, areas of timber framing, plain tile roof. Windows with stone mullions and stone surrounds. The tall red brick chimneys have Shavian decorated brick corbelling. Recessed central porch with Mansfield Stone columns, the capitals carved with classical motifs, and above it carved stone volutes, brackets and swags, with a naturalistic face of a young girl in the centre. To left of entrance is a two light window, above entrance is a four light window in stone surround. To left again is a cross wing of two storeys plus attic with decorated mock-Tudor timber framing. To the right of the entrance is a canted bay that projects through the roof line. Further right is black and white close studding on the first floor, with a canted bay on the ground floor. To the rear is a double gable with stone ball finials. There is a two storey canted bay with veranda with stone columns to the right and two windows above. To the right is a further two and half storey section of brick and timber framing. (2)

<1> English Heritage, 2002, Lochbuie and The Ridge The Park, Mansfield (Unpublished document). SNT5233.

<2> Mansfield District Council, 2004, Mansfield District Council Local List (Published document). SNT5967.