Fittie Quarter in Aberdeen, Art environments

all pictures courtesy of Sophie Lepetit
see Documentation

The cottage pictured above is located in a district officialy named Footdee district, but locally known as Fittie Quarter. in the city of Aberdeen, located along the North Sea in Scotland.

It is a district close to the coast, near the entrance to Aberdeen's harbor and it was once known as a place with houses occupied by fishermen, harbour personnel and pilots who guide ships.   

The district was built in the 19th century by the municipality of Aberdeen, which sold the houses around 1870, giving residents more opportunity to customize their homes. 

This happened indeed, many houses were extende upwards, but the character of the district, which only has a few streets, has been preserved and has even developed in a distinctive way, particularly in terms of the houses' decoration.

another decorated house

Today, the relatively small Fittie neighborhood has a unique atmosphere, with its many colorful small houses, some of which are made of wood.

The most striking feature of the neighborhood is that many houses have decorated front gardens or facades, some simply, but in some cases so elaborate that they could be classified as art environments.

Two of these art environments are presented below.

The Blue House

First, the blue house.

On the roof ridge stands a weather vane, and on the right side a large owl. The facade is decorated with various maritime objects, such as a lifebuoy and an anchor, while the two large rectangular images depict ships.

The low wall separating the front garden from the street, is filled with a series of small sculptures depicting various people and birds

And then, both the man in the green sweater and red trousers, situated at the right, and the large seagull in the center foreground are eye-catching creations.

The name of the one who created this art environment, is unknown.

The white house

This last point also applies to the second series of creations. 

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They show a small house with a white facade and a tiled floor between house and street. The design of this white site is somewhat more modest than the blue one.

The front wall of the house is decorated with all sorts of birds, and on the steps leading to the front door a man and a woman are seated, he dressed in green and she in red.

On the threshold of the front door stands a pot of flowers between two small sculptures.

The space between the front door and the street is completely filled with flower pots and on the right side -as seen from the street- it is sheltered by a high wall with all sorts of decorations.   

The low wall between the outdoor area and the street is filled with potted flowers, between which all sorts of small sculptures are on display, that wave to passersby.

The image below gives a good impression of the street where the house is located. 

This same atmosphere is also present in the few other streets in the Fittie neighborhood, which is now classified as a protected cityscape.

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Documentation

* Article  (October 2018) on Scotland Travel Blog by Susanne Arbucle

* Article  (Augusr 2020) on the website Globe-Trottine

* Article  (November 2025) on the weblog of Sophie Lepetit

Video

* Video (13'33", YouTube,  August 2023) by Brummie in the Highlands.

Art environments

Fittie Quarter

Aberdeen, Scotland, United Kingdom

can be seen from the street