Alexander Nisbet Paterson ARIBA PRIAS (1862–1947) was a Scottish architect, mainly working in the Arts and Crafts style.

His parents could not support two sons in such a risky profession so a compromise was made and he agreed to study architecture at the Ecole des Beaux Artes under Jean Louis Pascal in Paris from 1883 to 1886, staying at least some of this time with James.

[5] In 1896 he was unsuccessful in the competition for the Glasgow School of Art (won by Charles Rennie Mackintosh) and perhaps due to this he took a break for a study tour in the USA, also visiting his university friend Stewart Henbest Capper, who was then the head of the School of Architecture at McGill University in Montreal in Canada.

[6] In 1900, largely financed by his father, he began building his own house in Helensburgh: "The Long Croft" on Rossdhu Drive which included studios for both his wife and himself and ample room for entertaining.

[7] Over the entrance lintel the doorway bears a central crest and the words “A house that God doth oversee is grounded and watched as well as can be — Salve Bene Dicite”.

Of note, he designed memorials to two of his close friends who died: that to Stewart Henbest Capper in Cairo, and that to Robert Lorimer in St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh.

Historic Environment Scotland (Canmore) hold the A N Paterson Collection which includes a wide range of his architectural drawings, artworks and photographs both at home and on holiday.