Description

Loch Lomond And Trossachs National Park Planning Authority

Duart Tower is a good example of a villa of around 1850 and is one of the more interesting along this shore. The 2-storey house, consisting of a gabled front with a square tower, obviously borrows from a number of sources, specifically Italianate villas by Alexander Thomson. It is a striking design, which stands out above the shore, has a number of features of quality such as the stained glass and contributes to the collection of buildings along the Blairmore shore.

Duart Tower appears to have been built as two blocks, with perhaps a lower service block to the rear. This initial house was relatively compact, with the main gabled front containing a 3-centred mullioned window above a canted bay. To the right of this is the square-plan belvedere tower, with a shallow-pitch pyramidal roof and a long round-headed stair window. The entrance, through a coved surround, is in a separate single-storey gabled bay to the right of this. The single-storey service block to the rear was also of the initial phase.

Later, c1900, the right hand block of the front elevation, was built in the Arts and Crafts idiom, with black and white half-timbering on an upper-storey projection. Although the main block and the Arts and Crafts blocks have survived in their original forms, the rear block has been substantially remodelled in recent years.

Interior: the interior contains many decorative features, including stained glass in the roof lights and stair window. The large round-headed stair window contains the Robertson arms (probably of c.1900).

Materials: painted rubble with ashlar dressings. Timber framing to S block. Slate roof, stone stacks and polygonal clay cans. Modern replacement slate to rear block. Predominantly timber sash and case windows, leaded stair window. 2-leaf timber main doors.

Outbuildings, Boundary Walls: a single storey pitch-roofed rectangular-plan rubble outbuilding survives to the S, as well as the large, probably early 20th century garage at the base of the property. To the front of the house is an interesting man-made cave feature. The house is surrounded by a rubble boundary wall.

Statement of Interest

The settlement of the W shore of Loch Long was a continuation from the development of Kilmun and Strone, which began in the late 1820s when marine engineer David Napier feued a three mile stretch of land from Campbell of Monzie and ran daily steamer connections to Glasgow. Blairmore pier opened in 1855, encouraging development northwards (Walker, 2000, 147). The original feuar at Duart was a William Leckie Ewing McLean of Glasgow (List of Benmore Feuars). Early in the 20th century the owner was Oswald M. Robertson, whose coat of arms appears in the stair window.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata IDs Q77778737 Q77778741 Q77778744

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.

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