Ardlui

Ardlui is a house likely dating to the early to mid 16th century, with remodelling in the 17th century, and a rear range probably from the 18th century. The construction is primarily painted rendered stone rubble and cob, with thatched roofing. A brick shaft rises from a stone rubble hall stack, partially enclosed by an early 20th-century outshut. Another brick shaft serves a stone rubble stack to the gable end of the rear range, which has a slate roof.

The main range was originally composed of a hall and an inner room, later used as a cart shed and now converted to a garage with chambers above, situated to the left of a through-passage. A winder staircase is located to the right of the rear hall stack. Initially open to the roof, the hall and inner room were probably ceiled over in the 17th century; the floor of the inner room was removed at a later date, with partial flooring added in the 20th century. The rear range, once detached, but now connected by an early 20th-century outshut, opens directly to the roof of a single room, with a small room to the rear. A fireplace is situated across the front left-hand angle. The original use remains uncertain, possibly as a dwelling, but two wide, blocked doorways on the courtyard side suggest a later conversion for storage.

The building is two storeys high with a three-window front. There are slight eyebrow dormers. The windows are 2-light casements, replacements from the 20th century. A thatched gabled roof covers a brick porch. The front door is a 19th-century ledged plank door, refaced in the 20th century, while double garage plank doors are positioned at the left end.

The interior is largely unspoiled. A hall fireplace features an ogee-moulded lintel with run-out stops, dressed stone jambs, and a bread oven. Surviving 18th-century raised and fielded 2-panelled doors are found throughout, including a narrow door from the hall into the garage. A thick cob wall partition rises to the apex of the roof on the hall side of the through-passage. A 17th-century winder staircase is situated to the right of the hall stack. A cross ceiling beam is boxed in the hall. An upper floor retains a wide 6-panelled door with scratch mouldings to the cover strips beside the hall stack. A 17th-century door surround with a 4-panelled scratch-moulded door is located between the chambers above the hall and passage. The roof structure over the hall and inner room is thoroughly smoke-blackened, with a single raised cruck truss over the hall. This has a cranked collar and two tiers of threaded purlins and a ridge purlin, with large peg ends protruding. Smoke-blackened thatch battens and rafters remain. Two smoke-blackened boards on either side of the ridge at the lower end of the hall may be remnants of a louvre. The rear wing has a roughly chamfered fireplace lintel, and a lime-ash floor to the rear section. Three trusses exist with straight principals, seemingly reusing some 17th-century timbers, with two tiers of trenched purlins, and collars.

Ardlui represents a good example of a former open hall house facing the "town place" within a compact settlement. It features high-quality 17th- and 18th-century fittings and has undergone few later alterations.