Description

Dated 1760. Symmetrical, 2-storey, 5-bay Palladian house grouped 2-1-2 with advanced, pedimented centre; flanking single storey, 3-bay pavilions; connecting screen walls. Painted harl; grey sandstone ashlar dressings. Raised base course; cill course at 1st floor; eaves course beneath corniced eaves. Prominent quoins; Gibbs surrounds to ground floor openings; block surrounds to 1st floor openings; architraved reveals; raised keystones; flush cills. Later 20th century conservatory adjoining left pavilion (former coach house).

SW (ENTRANCE) ELEVATION: steps to 2-leaf, part-glazed timber panelled doors centred at ground; decorative fanlight; pedimented, Gibbsian surround. Venetian window aligned at 1st floor comprising fluted pilaster mullions, cornice, raised keystone; single oculus centred in pediment above; surmounting urn-shaped finials. Regularly fenestrated at both floors in recessed bays flanking entrance. Round-arched opening set in screen wall to outer left; 2-leaf, part-glazed timber doors set in round-arched opening in single storey wing to outer right. Advanced pavilions comprising single windows in all bays. Glazed, round-arched corridor linking left pavilion with conservatory.

NE (REAR) ELEVATION: 5-bay. Single windows at both floors in all bays; dated cill course to outer left. Single storey wing to outer left comprising single window off-set to right of centre; 2-leaf, part-glazed timber door in bay to right. Single storey wing to outer right comprising glazed door at centre (set in tripartite bow); single windows in remaining bays to left and right.

Predominantly 12-pane timber sash and case glazing; 6-pane glazing to pavilions; some skylights. Graded grey slate, slightly bell-cast piended roofs; lead flashings; replacement rainwater goods. Channelled, corniced ashlar ridge stacks flanking central pediment; coped apex and wallhead stacks to kitchen and drawing room wings (right).

INTERIOR: timber skirting boards; simple plaster cornices; some timber dado panelling; some original fireplaces; timber panelled shutters; shelved, pilastered recess in main bedroom (previously 1st floor drawing room). Central stair comprising decorative cast-iron balustrade, carved timber handrail.

CONSERVATORY: 10-sided, timber-framed conservatory on harled base. Round-arched and small-pane detailing; tapering finial surmounting central light.

WELL: circular well with simple wrought-iron overthrow.

BOUNDARY WALL: random rubble sandstone wall enclosing site.

Statement of Interest

Described by Scouller as a "...little gem of eighteenth century domestic architecture" (p22), Stewart Hall is a compact, yet dignified house of simple proportions and high quality detailing. Originally built for the somewhat eccentric Revd. James Stewart, a descendant of the first Stewarts of Bute, laird of the surrounding Kilwhinleck estate and from 1740, minister of Kingarth parish. From here, Stewart Hall passed to various occupants including The Fresh Air Fortnight Association and Dr J N Marshall of Rothesay. Having been owned and rented out by the Butes for a time, it is now a private residence. Despite the grand impression given by its pedimented entrance, flanking pavilions and Venetian window, Stewart Hall is remarkably small. Inside, two reception rooms occupy the ground floor, with a kitchen wing to the rear, whilst upstairs, a single bathroom links two bedrooms. Being a single-pile house, the rooms are lit from both front and back. The pavilion to the right (a former byre) has been converted to a drawing room, whilst the pavilion to the left (a former coach house) is now a self-contained holiday flat. The round-arched coach entrance can still be seen surrounding the glazed link to the conservatory. Various alterations have been made since Scouller's article was published in 1950, including the removal of the front porch and a bowed wall linking the right pavilion (see photograph p22).

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17568530

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

• 
  Somerset: South and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Care and Repair
• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
• 
  [(Bedfordshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1968)
• 
  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)