Montcoffer House

Montcoffer House is an early 18th century house, renovated around 1774-75 by the Fife Estate and extended around 1880. It is a two-storey, three-bay house, with later wings at the rear and to the west, creating a double-pile arrangement. The exterior is harled with ashlar margins and bows, featuring cill courses and chamfered reveals.

The south elevation has a central doorway with a pilastered and corniced doorpiece, above which sits a letterbox fanlight. Flanking the doorway are bows dating to around 1880, extending through both ground and first floors, contemporary with a one-bay addition to the west. This western addition is taller, with a matching bow, cornice, and blocking course.

The east elevation shows two windows at each floor to the gable end. A later two-bay wing extends to the north; this wing has a ground floor door to the right and a window above. Bipartite windows are present on each floor to the left, with a piended dormer window in the attic.

The west elevation reveals a gable end with tall windows on the ground floor and two windows on the first floor. A rear wing projects at a right angle, connected by a wooden bridging corridor on the first floor. Two gables are visible at the rear, alongside a ruinous rubble wall enclosing a service courtyard. A ground floor door is present here, above it a window, and a small attic window sits above that. The gable to the right is recessed. The windows are sash and case, with a four-pane glazing pattern to the bows and a twelve-pane pattern to the sides and rear. The roof is covered with grey slates, with ashlar coped skews and stacks featuring cornices and decorative cans.

The garden walls are constructed from random rubble, with pyramidal capped ashlar gate piers to the east. A walled garden to the south sits on sloping ground leading down to the river.

Lord Braco took possession of the Montcoffer Estate in 1755, previously held by the Russell Family. He planted the hill of Montcoffer with trees and installed his factor, William Rose, in 1773. The house and offices were reported to be in poor condition, and a mason's account from 1774 provides evidence of work carried out, with completion reported by 1790. The house was subsequently refitted and extended in 1880 for Hon G Skene Duff, and in 1906, furnishings were moved from Duff House to Montcoffer for use by the Duke and Duchess of Fife, who had ceased to occupy Duff House. The outbuildings, game larders in the garden to the rear, and the dovecot and cottages to the east are listed separately.