Cowie House

Cowie House is a large, substantially altered mansion combining vernacular and formal elements, dating from various periods with major remodelling in the 19th century, particularly 1853, and later additions in the 1930s. The building is constructed of rubble with rough ashlar dressings, pinned together. It is asymmetrically arranged around a courtyard. The south range is three-storeyed, while the west wing is single-storey and has an attic. The north front is single-storey and attic, featuring a central gabled bay with a projecting porch. The front door has a hood-moulded window on its flank and an original Georgian fanlight. A masonry-gabled dormer sits to the left, and three irregular windows with a matching dormer are to the right. The west wing has an irregular fenestration on its flanks, a piended dormer on the west side, and a swept dormer overlooking the courtyard. The south front has a four-window facade, with the two right-hand windows set in a slightly advanced gable containing an attic slit. A low rubble and brick wing extends to the left, linked by a single-storey and attic bay with a French window and an oblong window below the eaves to a two-storey pavilion in the southwest corner, featuring a canted bay window on the ground floor and a tripartite window above. The southeast pavilion has single-storey, attics, and projecting two-window gabled ends with hood-moulded windows. The roofs are slated with straight skews and large plain skew ends. Most windows are 12-pane sashes, although some have 9, 16, or 4 panes. A low rubble terrace wall surrounds the garden, with a gate flanked by two piers with ball caps. A walled garden is located north of the house, connecting it with associated offices. The group value of Cowie House rests in its substantial architectural interest and its contribution to the surrounding landscape.