Old Montrose House With Gatepiers And Wing Walls To East Drive

Old Montrose House is a largely red sandstone house that originated in the late 18th century as a rectangular building. Around 1840, an L-shaped addition was built to the east, along with a single-story office range to the north, creating a narrow courtyard. These later additions are characterized by crowstepped gables topped with finials and some windows with hoodmoulds. In the mid-19th century, several canted bay windows were added to the ground floor, and a corbelled pyramidal roof tower was added to the south elevation, along with a lean-to addition to the north elevation in the late 19th or early 20th century. The house is approached by two curving drives that lead around a large walled garden to the north.

The original part of the house is largely hidden when approaching from the north entrance front, which is dominated by a double-gabled elevation featuring a projecting single-story porch with a roll-moulded doorpiece. The single-story office wing is slightly forward of the main house to the west.

The south elevation clearly shows the three distinct building phases. The 18th-century wing, which later became a service wing, has five bays and three substantial, shouldered ridge stacks, some of which have been rebuilt. The rear elevation of this wing has few openings, typical of north-facing elevations of that period.

A square tower, with a slightly bell-cast pyramidal roof, sits over the junction between the 18th-century wing and a two-bay, M-gabled extension built around 1840. The left gable of this extension projects forward and features a canted bay window on the ground floor.

The house is primarily constructed of random red sandstone rubble with ashlar detailing. Reused stone and red brick pinnings are visible on the 18th-century wing, while the tower is built of stugged snecked sandstone. Most windows are timber sash windows with 12 panes, but there are variations including horizontal panes on the north elevation, and modern eight-pane top-hung casement windows on the first floors of the east and south elevations. The 19th-century sections have pitched graded slate roofs, with corniced ashlar and octagonal cans.

Inside, a former school room has an ornate stone chimneypiece. Other, not all original, chimneypieces are present, along with some plasterwork, cast-iron balusters to the staircases, and an etched glass skylight. The office and west wings retain late 19th and early 20th century domestic fittings, such as stone shelving and large Belfast sinks.

At the entrance to the east drive are square ashlar gatepiers with pyramidal caps, flanked by short curved brick wing walls. The gatepiers for the west drive are listed separately.