Park House

Park House is a much-extended and altered house with a complex building history, dating back to the 16th century. A 16th-century Z-plan tower forms the house's core, with significant additions made throughout the 18th and 19th centuries in various styles. It is currently an H-plan building, though the symmetrical classical front was regrettably demolished in the late 1970s; the main entrance is now on the northwest side. The house is harled with ashlar dressings and has a vaulted basement and attic.

The original tower house is a rectangular block oriented east-west, with square towers on the northwest and southeast corners forming a Z-plan. The southeast tower is relatively unchanged and includes a former main entrance. This features a roll-moulded, round-arched doorway and three small windows to a stair in the angle to the right. There are two windows to each floor of the gable, with a small window in the attic. The northeast tower has been extended to the south, with openings enlarged.

Additions dating to 1717, made for Sir James Gordon, are marked by a dated, monogrammed plaque on the east elevation. The southeast tower was extended northwards to balance the projecting northwest tower. The north gable’s openings were enlarged with four tall outer windows, and three smaller windows to the inner bays of each gable, creating a near-symmetrical north front.

Further additions in 1723 included a three-storey bow on the east elevation, with a new ground-floor entrance. The door surround is roll-moulded and inscribed with the date and the names of Sir James Gordon and his wife. This bow features three large windows on each floor above.

In the late 18th century, classical additions were made to the north and south elevations. A three-storey bow was added to the centre block of the south front; it is harled at ground floor level and ashlar above, with three tall windows on each floor, capped by a slated conical roof.

Additions in 1829, made for Col Thomas Gordon, extended the northwest tower to the south. This addition is a four-storey, two-bay square tower in the Gothic style. It includes a blind base course, blind round-arched windows at ground floor level on the west and north sides, and two windows diminishing in height on each floor to the south, with exterior pelmets to the first floor. The tower is topped with a corbelled and crenellated parapet, along with corbelled angle turrets with blind, cruciform arrow slits.

Between 1876 and 1878, the angle between the northwest tower and the 1829 tower was filled with a stair tower, which was raised in 1918. A door to this tower now serves as the main entrance, leading to a T-plan stair constructed from an 18th-century front horseshoe stair. The stair tower features a coped ashlar balustrade, panelled polygonal ashlar dies, and a window above.

The interior of the house has been substantially altered. It has a vaulted basement containing cellars. Some original fireplaces remain, but little of the original plasterwork. Most windows are sash and case with a 12-pane glazing pattern. The house is roofed with grey slates, with ashlar coped skews and stacks.