Description

Dated 1849. 2-storey and basement, irregular L-plan picturesque villa. Snecked tooled rubble, ashlar dressings, slate roof, some fishscale pattern. Band course at ground floor, some stepped string courses; chamfered angles and openings; plate glass 4-, 8- and 12-pane sash and case windows, some replaced with stylised frames at S and W; exposed rafter ends, decorative bargeboards, corniced stacks (linked octagonal at centre ridge truncated elsewhere) with decorative cans. Some original lead downpipes and straps.

E ELEVATION: 3-bay; gabled entrance porch at right gable with open pointed arch, bipartite windows at returns, flanking windows at main elevation, stepped string course at 1st floor, window above; narrow recessed bay at left, large window at ground floor with dated scroll and moulding over lintel, window at 1st; gable at left with paired gunport-type openings at ground floor, window at 1st; curtain wall at far right with pointed arch, crowsteps, tipartite opening, heraldic shield and ball finials.

S ELEVATION: slightly advanced gable at left with bracketted and pierced balcony to hoodmoulded window at ground floor, 2 windows at 1st, opening at attic; corbelled canted window at right with moulded parapet, gabled window at 1st floor. Recessed bay at right with rectangular ground floor window, window at first.

W ELEVATION: advanced gable at left with window at ground and 1st floor; projecting gable at right return canted at ground floor, corbelled to square at 1st, each with tripartite window, small window at attic; 3 bays recessed at right, segmental at left with tripartite window at ground, bipartite at 1st floor, wallhead breaks through eaves to form round tower with corbels and finialled conical roof, gable at right with corniced tripartite at ground flor, window at 1st, similar gable further recessed at far right but with projecting tripartite window at ground floor.

N ELEVATION: advanced bay at right with 4 windows at ground floor, 2 at 1st, 1 at wallhead gable; gable at left return with various windows and door at re-entrant; recessed bay at left with round-headed stair and ot her windows.

COAT HOUSE BLOCK: linked to house at NE by arched curtian well. Single storey and attic, L-plan. Snecked rubble, ashlar dressings, slae roof. 6- and 8-pane casement and top-hopper windows; exposed rafter and purlin ends, decorative bargeboards atS and E, partially removed from W.

W ELEVATION: 2-bay; door with fanlight at centre, window and gunport-type opening at left, window at right, windows at 1st floor gables.

S ELEVATION: slightly projecting gable at right with window at ground floor and at corbelled attic; gunport-type opening at left, windows at far left intersected by arch of linking curtain wall.

E GABLE: gunport-type opening at ground floor, window at attic.

N ELEVATION: paired windows at left in blocked carriage opening, gablehead above, 2 windows at right, advanced bay at far right with 3 windows at left return gable.

GARDEN WALLS: coped snecked rubble and ashlar terraced retaining wall at S with 2 flights of steps, some ball finials missing, decorative cast-iron urn; similar wall and steps at W of house, and at drying green at N.

INTERIOR: scale and platt stairs with highly decorateive cast-iron balusters, octagonal newel posts, lincrusta dado; stair window with some heraldic stained glass, unusual chain-link pattern cornice at landing with festooned frieze; drawing room ceiling is compartmentalised, painted and gilded with B repeated in cornice; dining room ceiling has grained timber effect and painted mouldings; 1 (1 stolen) marble gothic revival chimneypiece, original panelled shutters, some early ornate pelmets; decorative cast-iron balusters at back stairs, some original chimenypieces at 1st floor.

Statement of Interest

James Scot, merchant, shipowner and insurance agent is recorded at Reres House from 1858. The house was used by the BBC for filming scenes from 'Christabel' in 1988; the replacement windows at the principal ground floor and some first floor rooms derive from this time.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17813675

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

• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Period Property Manual (New Ed)
• 
  Liverpool: Pevsner City Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)