Birse Lodge Hotel, Charlestown Road, Aboyne

Dated 1861, Birse Lodge Hotel began as a Dower House and is now a 2-storey and attic building of 3 bays. The exterior is of coursed, rough-faced pink granite with finely finished raised dressings. Long and short vertically banded quoins are used, with gableted windows that break through the eaves and overhanging eaves featuring king-post detailing.

The northeast (entrance) elevation is asymmetrical, featuring a canopied doorway supported by rustic timber columns. The doorway has a 2-leaf panelled timber door flanked by glazed vertical panels, above which is a 2-pane fanlight. A window is located on the first floor of the central bay, with regular fenestration to the ground and first floors of the bay to the left. A gabled bay is slightly advanced to the right, again with regular fenestration to the ground and first floors, and a blank shield surmounted by a carved coronet sits in the gablehead. A single-storey addition with a window is situated to the outer right.

The northwest elevation is also asymmetrical, with 6 bays, and a single-storey, flat-roofed addition with a crenellated parapet projecting forward over the three bays to the left at ground floor, with windows in each bay. Two windows break through the eaves off-centre to the right of the first floor. The three bays to the right step down, with the ground floor obscured by 20th-century additions. Regular fenestration breaks through the eaves to the first floor. A concrete addition extends to the outer right, connecting to an L-plan block.

The southwest elevation, also asymmetrical and of 3 bays, has its ground floor obscured by 20th-century additions adjoining the L-plan block. The first floor of the advanced, gabled bay to the left is blank, except for a small window breaking through the eaves to the right return, with another window breaking through the eaves to the bay to the right.

The southeast elevation shows 5 bays with a window to the ground floor of the central bay, and the ground floor of the flanking bay to the left and gabled bay to the outer left obscured by a flat-roofed single-storey addition extending to the left. A bipartite window is located to the ground floor of the flanking bay to the right; the gabled bay is slightly advanced to the outer right with a bipartite glazed doorway and a bipartite window to the first floor, featuring a blank shield surmounted by a coronet in the gablehead. Irregular fenestration is present to the remainder of the first floor. An infilled opening sits in the gablehead to the outer left, and gableted dormers are situated to the centre and flanking bay to the right at attic floor. A piend-roofed addition extends to the outer left, connecting to the L-plan block.

The L-plan block, located to the southwest of the main building, is constructed of coursed granite and granite rubble with rough-faced dressings. It has irregular fenestration to the ground floor and a modern timber door to the chamfered angle to the north. Predominantly gableted windows break through the eaves to the first floor.

A variety of timber sash and case windows are present, with some modern 2-pane timber windows including top hoppers. The roof is covered with grey slate and features lead ridges. Coped granite gablehead stacks have circular cans. Cast-iron rainwater goods are used. The interior was not inspected in 1998. Rough-faced, battered granite gatepiers with pyramidal caps are located to the southeast, alongside a granite wall with granite coping.