Levenford House was built in 1853 for James Denny, a partner in the Dumbarton shipbuilding firm of William Denny & Brothers. It was designed for him by the well-known Scottish architect J.T.Rochead. By 1881, the house was in the possession of another Denny partner, Walter Brock. The house remained with that family until 1938, when the widow of Walter Brock junior offered it to the County Council with the wish that it should be used as a library or museum. From then onwards the house has been a library headquarters, first for Dunbartonshire County Council, then for Dumbarton District Council, and from 1996, for West Dunbartonshire Council.
The building stands at the end of a winding driveway off Helenslee Road, in the West Bridgend area of Dumbarton. With its pleasant setting among gardens and trees, the exterior presents a good example of Victorian domestic mock-baronial architecture - picturesque, and not too extravagant.
Its Grade-B listing, however, is testimony as much as anything to the largely preserved interior, with fine examples of wall panelling, ornamental fireplaces, alcoves and, not least, toilet facilities! The changes required for the building to function as offices have not, by and large, altered the ambience.
In 1978, the building featured as a location for The Marcia Blane School for Girls in the Scottish Television production of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, starring Geraldine McEwan in the title role.