Walled Garden, Balbeuchley House, Dundee

Balbeuchley House, Dundee

This Grade B listed building comprises a substantial 2-storey mansion house with basement, rectangular in plan with three bays, built on falling ground and attributed to William Scott from the earlier-to-mid 19th century. A billiards room addition dates to around 1900.

The main house is constructed of finely stugged and margined pinkish sandstone ashlar at the south and east elevations, with a vermiculated basement. The west elevation and lower service block at the rear employ stugged coursers. The billiards room addition is harled with ashlar dressings throughout. All roofs are of slate — the main house has a piended roof with a glazed skylight terminating a half-piended stairwell roof. The service block features double-pile half-piended roofs at right angles at the rear, whilst the billiards room has a piended lantern light on a platform roof, all with prominent lead flashings.

Architectural detailing is classically composed. The main house displays a band course at basement and ground floor level, a cill course at the first floor, and a band course with moulded cornice at wallhead topped by a low lead-clad blocking course. Quoin strips frame the elevations. Ground floor windows have bracketed cills, moulded and panelled architraves, and richly sculpted consoles supporting dentilled cornices. First floor windows are lugged and architraved. Vertically channelled, shouldered and corniced wallhead stacks with decorative serrated top bulbous cans (some replaced to the existing pattern in the 1980s) link together. The service block features an eaves course and margined angles, with windows that are margined and lugged, having chamfered arrises, bracketed cills and shallowly pointed lintels. The billiards room addition has ashlar margins, window margins and an eaves course. All windows in the main house are 12-pane sash and case with individual pane double glazing; the billiards room has unsympathetic uPVC glazing.

The south elevation is distinguished by a slightly advanced central bay with steps on an ashlar base rising through an area with coped flanks. An Ionic columned porch in antis features moulded, round-headed shell-niche panels with aprons at the left and right returns, a dentilled cornice, and a pierced parapet with angle dies and moulded cornice. The door itself is round-headed with a keystoned and moulded doorcase, fanlight and consoled lintel, with a window at first floor above. Bays at left and right contain windows at basement (with security bars and modern metal window guards), ground floor and first floor.

The east elevation shows the main house at left with two basement windows (one blocked) and two windows at ground and first floor levels (the first floor left window is blocked). The service block at centre right has a window at ground and first floor, with a further narrow window at ground floor left. The billiards room addition sits at far right with a modern garage door at centre, positioned within a round-headed opening formerly forming a tunnel to the west elevation. A window at left and a canted oriel at first floor are also present. The garden retaining wall projecting at ground floor right contains a recessed round-headed dog kennel.

The west elevation features the main house at right with a central basement door and window to the left (both with security bars and modern metal window guards), and a blocked window at right with two windows at ground and first floor. The service block at left has two windows at ground and first floor (the ground floor left window is blocked). The billiards room addition is slightly recessed at far left with a garage door at ground floor and three windows at first floor.

The north elevation has a garden door with fanlight at first floor level at right and a modern window at left.

The interior contains a tripartite inner doorpiece with a modern door, shell niche sidelights and fanlight reflecting the entrance porch and door. Original ornate plasterwork cornices and ceilings survive, with consoled cornices at principal interior doors. Some original chimneypieces remain, and the scale and platt stairs feature decorative cast-iron baluster panels.

Adjoining the house at north is a walled garden with ashlar coped rubble walls and a slab-roofed lean-to at the southwest. Rubble boundary walls extend along the south, east and west, with round-headed gateposts at the entrance to the steading at the southeast angle.

Balbeuchley House was built for Patrick Miller, proprietor of the estate from circa 1820 to 1876, probably replacing an earlier house shown on both Edward's map of 1678 and Thomson's map of 1825. The building underwent comprehensive restoration in the 1980s under proprietor Bernard Reilley, who repaired and renewed the windows with individual pane double glazing that respected the original width of the astragals, increasing depth by 5mm. Plasterwork and roof lead were restored during this campaign, and matching balusters salvaged from the South Road (linoleum) Mill in Dundee were installed.