Balquholly

Balquholly is a house dating from the late 15th century and early 17th century. It has a mix of one-and-a-half storeys and two storeys with attics. The building is timber-framed and rendered, topped with a thatched roof featuring a decorated ridge. There is an internal chimney stack with a plain red brick shaft, as well as an external stack on the south gable wall. The house has small-paned casement windows, some from the 19th century and others from the 20th century, along with one eyebrow dormer and a plank door.

The structure consists of four bays, with the two southern bays originally part of a small single-storey medieval house. An original partition wall between these bays shows the remains of a doorway, with the jamb and head made from a single curved timber. Evidence suggests that the roof was raised when ceilings were added to these two bays, around the same time the two northern bays, which include an integral chimney stack, were constructed, approximately in 1600. The stack features two back-to-back hearths on the ground floor with open fireplaces and plain timber lintels.

All three ground floor ceilings exhibit a similar style, showcasing exposed beams and joists with stop-chamfered details and scroll-stops. The staircase next to the chimney stack is a 20th-century replacement but remains in its original location, accompanied by a small blocked three-light mullioned window beside it. The raised roof over the two southern bays is fully covered, while the northern end has three bays of clasped purlins, diminished principal rafters, and cambered collars, with two rafters removed.