Dunecht House

Dunecht House is a mansion built around a courtyard, with an outer courtyard to the north and a terraced garden to the south. The initial structure, designed by John Smith in 1820, was in a Neo-Greek style. It comprised a two-story basement and attic square block featuring a Greek-Doric porch and bow, both of which have since been removed.

A large, two-story and basement Italianate mansion, designed by William Smith in 1859 and built on the southeast corner of the original structure, now dominates the south side of the courtyard. This section is constructed of coursed granite and includes bay windows, a top parapet balustraded at the bays, and a handsome four-story tower. A porte-cochere at the east end was removed.

Extensive alterations and additions, including a library, a new courtyard entrance tower containing a staircase, and a chapel, were added in 1877 by George Edmund Street, who employed a French-Italian Romanesque style. Further additions in 1900 by G. Bennet Mitchell included a new dining room, a conservatory, and new windows to the courtyard within the Smith building. The conservatory was later removed.

Subsequent additions between 1913 and 1920, by Sir Aston Webb, included a boilerhouse wing, gates and lodges, terraces, a loggia, and a gazebo. Interior alterations were also undertaken during this period. Bennet Mitchell's dining room was removed, Webb’s diagonal screen wall to the courtyard was taken down, and the estate office was created in the 1950s.

The interior features a large, square, top-lit staircase with round arches. The cove and panels were painted in a Raphaelesque manner by Italian artists around 1860, with additions made in 1900. A long gallery, originally designed by W. Smith, measures 100 feet by 16 feet and has a compartmented ceiling. A marble chimneypiece at the west end was designed by G.E. Street. The entrance tower and staircase, also by Street, has a 20-foot diameter open-well centre with 47 colonnettes and a vaulted top.

The library and drawing room contain English Jacobean woodwork, including marquetry panels, and plasterwork installed around 1920. A billiard room features an English 15th-century screen with gallery, chimneypiece, and panelling. The library, now a ballroom and originally designed by G.E. Street, is expansive at 120 feet by 27 feet by 40 feet, with an arched ceiling, iron galleries, a reading room, and rich decoration, including a lunette by James Pryde.

The chapel, also by Street, measures 100 feet by 34 feet by 50 feet and includes a vaulted apse, a waggon roof, and a northeast chapel. The stalls, originally designed by Street in 1877, are inlaid with walnut from Florence. Additional woodwork was added by Dr. Kelly, and the northeast chapel features 16th-century panelling.