Description

John and Thomas Smith of Darnick. Dated 1827; extended by R Carruthers Ballantyne (of Ballantyne and Taylor, Inverness) circa 1923. 2-storey with attic and basement, 5-bay rectangular-plan Georgian mansion. Ionic portico to entrance; later 2-storey rear wing addition. Polished ashlar; harled rubble with dressed margins to N wing. Giant angle pilasters. Base course, cill courses to ground and 1st floors, dividing band between ground and 1st floors. Blocking course surmounting.

S (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: 6 ashlar steps with plain wings walls leading to tetrastyle Ionic entrance portico; central timber panelled door with inset stone above carved with JBAH 1827 in gothic script; border-glazed fanlight. 2 regularly placed windows to flanks of portico. To 1st floor, 5 regularly placed bays; advanced pedimented central bay with recessed apex stack surmounting. To attic, flat-roofed dormer aligned with 3 central bays.

E ELEVATION: 5 regularly placed bays to basement, ground and 1st floor; bays 4 and 5 later and divided from original house by giant pilaster; small circular window to ground and 1st floor between bays 2 and 3 lighting staircase. Paired wallhead stacks between bays 2 and 3 with 5 flat-roofed attic dormers, bays 2-5 aligning with fenestration of house.

N (REAR) ELEVATION: L-plan. Advanced bay to left, to right return window to 1st floor right; wallhead stack to left and attic dormer above 1st floor window. Rear of main house to right: to ground and 1st floor, 3 windows to left; giant pilaster with 4th bay to right. Bipartite attic dormer surmounting to left of pilaster. Basement partially concealed behind coursed whinstone rubble yard wall but single storey square extension in re-entrant angle. Lean-to outhouse adjoining N elevation of enclosed yard wall with door in W elevation.

W ELEVATION: 5 regularly placed bays to basement, ground and 1st floors; semi blind window to 5th bay of basement; windows taller to ground floor. Paired wallhead stacks linked by raised parapet spanning bays 2 - 4; attic dormers aligned with bays 3 and 4.

12-pane glazing in timber sash and case windows; 6-pane timber sash and case windows to basement and 15-pane to ground floor of w elevation. Piended and platformed grey slate roof with lead flashing; slate cheeked, flat-roofed dormer windows inserted. Painted cast-iron rainwater goods.

INTERIOR: Tessellated stone floor (see notes) to main halls of ground floor. Greek key and ovolo moulded cornicing to hall; corbelled arches crossing hall. Stone open-well dogleg stair with painted wrought-iron triple balustrades; ornate scrolled central balustrades with plain bar to flanks. Some Adam style fire-surrounds to principal rooms.

TERRACE WALL: ashlar wall with advanced chamfered base course and matching quoins forming W to E terrace to S of main house and dividing drive N - S from garden to W; squared ashlar piers with cushion caps to angles.

Statement of Interest

Sited on an attractive hillside overlooking the Tweed, the house is found on the west bank of Holylee Burn with Old Holylee on the east bank. Holylee was built for James Ballantyne of Old Holylee (listed separately) following his marriage to Anne Henderson in 1821. Originally the family lived in the original house but James and his wife moved here. The ground floor contained the main rooms, with a drawing room to the west and a morning room to the east of the front of the house. The rooms came off a T-plan entrance hall with a formal stone staircase rising to the centre of the east elevation. A lesser spiral stair and service rooms were found to the north east corner of the house. These stairs led to the basement kitchens and rear yard. A panelled dining room was in the north west corner of the house. The 1st floor was principally for bedrooms. R Carruthers Ballantyne added a rear extension in 1923 (to the east of the north elevation). He had succeeded ownership of the house through William Laidlaw Ballantyne, factor at Abbotsford. The architectural practice he was with was changed to Laidlaw Ballantyne and Taylor for a generation. In use as a private residence.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17835623

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

• 
  Period Property Manual (New Ed)
• 
  Cork: City and County (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Period property manual, victorian house manual 2 books collection set by ian rock
• 
  Setting up a Listed Building Heritage Partnership Agreement: Historic England Advice Note 5
• 
  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)
• 
  Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)