Description

Attributed to William Scott, earlier-mid 19th century; billiards room addition circa 1900. 2-storey and basement, rectangular-plan, 3-bay classically-detailed mansion house built on falling ground. Finely stugged and margined pinkish sandstone ashlar at S and E elevations of main house, vermiculated basement, stugged coursers at W elevation and lower service block at rear, harled billiards room addition, all with ashlar dressings; piended slate roof, glazed skylight terminating half-piended stairwell roof, double-pile half-piended service block roofs at right angles at rear, piended lantern light on platform roof at billiards room addition, all with prominent lead flashings. Main house has band course at basement and ground floor, cill course at 1st, band course and moulded cornice at wallhead with low lead-clad blocking course, quoin strips; ground floor windows have bracketted cills, moulded and panelled architraves, richly sculpted consoles supporting dentilled cornice; 1st floor windows lugged and architraved; linked vertically channelled, shouldered and corniced wallhead stacks with decorative, serrated top bulbous cans (some replaced to existing pattern 1980s). Service block has eaves course and margined angles, windows are margined and lugged with chamfered arrises, bracketted cills and shallowly pointed lintels. Ashlar margins, window margins and eaves course at billiards room. All windows 12-pane sash and case, each pane individually double glazed; unsympathetic uPVC glazing to billiards room.

South elevation: slightly advanced bay at centre, steps on ashlar base rising through area with coped flanks; Ionic columned porch in antis with moulded, round-headed shell-niche panels with aprons at left and right returns, dentilled cornice, pierced parapet with angle dies and moulded cornice; door with round-headed, keystoned and moulded doorcase, fanlight and consoled lintel; window at 1st floor. bay at left and right with window at basement with security bars and modern metal window guards, window at ground and 1st floor.

panels with aprons at left and right returns, dentilled cornice, pierced parapet with angle dies and moulded cornice; door with round-headed, keystoned and moulded doorcase, fanlight and consoled lintel; window at 1st floor. bay at left and right with window at basement with security bars and modern metal window guards, window at ground and 1st floor.

E elevation: main house at left, 2 basement windows (1 blocked), 2 windows at ground and 1st floor of main house at left (blocked at 1st floor left); window at ground and 1st floor centre at service block at right, further narrow window at ground floor left; billiards room addition at far right, modern garage door at centre (built within round-headed opening formerly forming tunnel to W elevation), window at left, canted oriel at 1st floor, garden retaining wall projecting at ground floor right has recessed round-headed dog kennel.

W elevation: main house to right, central door at basement and window to left with security bars, each with modern metal window guard/railings, blocked window at right, 2 windows at ground and 1st floor; service block at left, 2 windows at ground and 1st floor (blocked at ground floor left); billiards room addition slightly recessed at far left with garage door at ground floor as at E elevation, 3 windows at 1st floor.

N elevation: garden door with fanlight at 1st floor level at right, modern window at left.

Interior: tripartite inner doorpiece (modern door) with shell niche sidelights and fanlight reflecting entrance porch and door; original ornate plasterwork cornices and ceilings; consoled cornices at principal interior doors; some original chimneypieces; scale and platt stairs with decorative cast-iron baluster panels.

Walled garden, boundary wall and gateposts: walled garden adjoining house at north, ashlar coped rubble, slab-roofed lean-to at SW; rubble boundary walls at S, E, and W with round-headed gateposts at entrance to steading at SE angle.

Statement of Interest

Balbeuchley House was built for Patrick Miller, proprietor of the estate from circa 1820 to 1876, probably replacing an earlier house which appears both on Edward's (1678) and Thomson's (1825) maps. Balbeuchley was restored during the 1980s under the direction of the then proprietor Mr Bernard Reilley, who also repaired and made new windows, introducing individual pane double glazing which respected the original width of the astragals, increasing the depth by 5mm. Plasterwork and roof lead was restored at this time and matching balusters salvaged from the South Road (linoleum) Mill, Dundee.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17772107

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)
• 
  The Shredded Chef: 120 Recipes for Building Muscle, Getting Lean, and Staying Healthy
• 
  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)
• 
  This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House
• 
  For the Record
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)