Ascog House, Bute

Ascog House, Bute

A 17th-century laird's house dated 1678, set on a sloping site. The building was extensively altered in the late 20th century to form holiday accommodation, though many original features survive.

The main house is T-plan, rising 2 storeys with an attic. The east (front) elevation presents six bays with a full-height crowstepped stair tower set off-centre to the right. The west (rear) elevation is single-storey with an attic, comprising five bays. The walls are of whitewashed rubble with red sandstone ashlar dressings, which are slightly droved at ground level on the east. Notable features include stop-chamfered surrounds to first-floor openings, finialed gabled dormers breaking the eaves to both east and west, and crowstepped skews.

The east elevation shows the projecting stair tower containing single windows at ground and attic levels, with an iron-studded boarded timber door at ground in the return to the right. Above this sits a blind, architraved square panel, with a single attic light off-set to the left. Blind openings with small lights inset appear at ground level in all bays flanking the tower, with regular fenestration at first-floor level and finialed dormers aligned above. The west elevation features a stair to a boarded timber door centred at ground, topped by a blind architraved square panel. Single windows flank the entrance with single dormers above, and small square windows appear at ground level in the outer left and right bays.

The roof is of graded grey slate with crowstepped skews and replacement rainwater goods. Sandstone apex stacks with cornices are positioned to the north and south (some with circular cans), and a corniced apex stack serves the stair tower. Windows throughout are replacement 6-, 12- and 15-pane timber sash and case glazing.

The interior has been adapted for its new use but retains some original stone fireplaces. A notable carved chimneypiece fragment survives in the kitchen, featuring a prominent voussoir arch. Original timber skirting boards, dado panelling, and timber panelled shutters are also present.

A separate former Edwardian stair tower stands to the north, 2 storeys with an attic and single bay. It is constructed of harl-pointed rubble sandstone with whitewashed harl to the west and red sandstone ashlar dressings. The structure features a moulded string course and chamfered corners to the north-east and north-west corbelled out to square above. Stugged rubble quoins and stugged long and short surrounds to chamfered openings are characteristic, along with chamfered cills and finialed gable-headed dormers with crowstepped skews.

The south (entrance) elevation has a replacement timber panelled door off-set to the left of centre at ground, with a single window aligned at first-floor level. The east elevation shows a single window centred at ground with a finialed dormer above. The north (rear) elevation features a large bipartite stair window centred at the second stage with a stone mullion, flanked by corniced stops beneath a corbelled string course, and a bullseye window centred in the apex above. The west elevation has a narrow single window centred at ground with a finialed dormer above. Windows are predominantly 2- and 12-pane timber sash and case, with mullioned and transomed bipartite examples. The roof is of graded grey slate with crowstepped skews and replacement rainwater goods. The interior was not inspected in 1996.

An associated outbuilding to the north-west is single-storey, comprising a 4-bay block with a lower 5-bay wing adjoining to the south. Segmental-arched openings occur throughout. A boarded timber door appears in the penultimate bay outer left of the north block, with single windows in the remaining bays to left and right. A 2-leaf boarded timber opening occupies the penultimate bay outer right of the south block, with a single boarded timber door in the penultimate bay outer left and single windows in the remaining bays. The roof is of corrugated iron. The interior is empty.

A separate single-storey single-bay garage stands to the north-west with 2-leaf boarded timber doors centred in the east elevation. The roof is a graded grey slate piend. The interior was not inspected in 1996.

A coped harl-pointed random rubble garden wall, the remnant of a former kitchen and walled garden, runs beneath a wooded hill to the west.

The outbuilding and garage are constructed of harl-pointed sandstone rubble with tooled rubble quoins and tooled long and short rubble surrounds to openings.