Sunnyside Hospital: Northesk Villa, Hillside

3-storey, 5-bay, irregular-plan, crow-stepped villa with distinctive ogee arch detailing around windows. Pinned and coursed rubble with ashlar margins. Base course. Entrance porch in re-entrant angle to W with segmental-arched openings.

This distinctive and well-detailed villa was built to house female patients and has good external decoration with interesting ogee-arch detailing. It forms a significant part of the Sunnyside Hospital complex. Sunnyside Asylum developed in the 19th century as a replacement for the first lunatic asylum in Scotland at Montrose. The hospital consists of a related group of buildings, informally set in a semi-parkland setting on a hillside overlooking Montrose. The site is significant in remaining largely intact and retaining the integrity of a self-contained psychiatric hospital. (Historic Environment Scotland List Entry)

23 October 2012: External inspection finds the building closed and in poor condition. The site is understood to have been fully vacated by NHS Tayside around 2011.

19 February 2013: Local planners confirm the building is considered to fall within the curtilage of the listed buildings at the hospital site.

30 April 2013: The Courier reports on local concern at the ongoing vacancy at Sunnyside Hospital. The article notes previous metal thefts from the site including lead theft last week. NHS Tayside is noted as working with the Scottish Futures Trust, which has appointed a master planner to prepare Sunnyside for sale.

30 September 2013: Local planners advise they continue to work with the NHS Trust to establish a new use for the site. The condition of the North Esk building is advised to have deteriorated due to the water ingress noted previously. Risk level raised to Moderate.

9 September 2015: A member of the public notes the former hospital site is now being marketed for sale. Ballantynes is marketing the circa 26 hectare site for sale, offers invited. The sales particulars note NHS Tayside commissioned Jones Lang LaSalle to prepare a Development Framework for the Sunnyside site.

7 June 2016: External inspection finds the building remains in much the same condition as seen previously. The building was individually listed at category C in 2013.

10 August 2016: The former hospital site is noted as being Under Offer.

21 July 2017: Listed Building Consent for the conversion to residential use of a number of the listed buildings within the former hospital site. The Main Building, Infirmary, Carnegie Building and a number of sports pavilions are proposed for retention and conversion, the remainder including Esk Villa are proposed for demolition ref: 17/00331/LBC. Risk level raised from Moderate to High.

13 June 2021: A member of the public reports the property is being internally stripped in anticipation of conversion to residential use as part of a wider redevelopment of the former hospital site. Moved to Restoration in Progress.