Camis Eskan House

Camis Eskan House

This is a substantial two and three-storey rectangular-plan house with attic accommodation, originally dated by a datestone of 1648 at the rear. The building was significantly remodelled in 1840 by David Hamilton and again substantially remodelled in 1915 by A N Paterson. The 1915 remodelling introduced ashlar to the ground floor with painted harl above, complemented by sandstone ashlar margins and dressings throughout. A broad eaves band runs across the principal elevations, with architraved windows (except for cills) characteristic of the Paterson intervention.

The west (main) elevation presents the most prominent architectural composition. The A N Paterson remodelling forms a two-storey, three-bay symmetrical block, while the earlier David Hamilton block extends to the outer left as a taller three-storey, three-bay element. At the centre sits a shallow canted entrance block with a balustraded parapet and faceted roof. The 1st floor features tall windows with strapwork quoins, and the centre window is articulated in French window manner as a casement. A bowed ashlar portico projects at the centre, carried on four Roman Doric columns with a mutuled entablature; a narrow window infills the space between the outer column and inner pilaster. The entrance door, four-panelled with moulded surround, sits beneath. Flanking symmetrical bays exhibit shallow canted ground floors with Gibbsian surrounds to their windows, topped by low cast-iron parapets and flanking stone urns. Above, three windows are arranged in Venetian fashion. Wooden gabled dormers with modern plate glass windows are symmetrically disposed. The outer left block, distinctly taller, is harled with ashlar architraves, a cill band course at 2nd floor level, and an eaves cornice stepped over the upper floor windows; 1st floor windows carry cornices.

The east (rear) elevation displays a more complex composition of seven bays at ground and first floor levels, comprising a two-storey section and a three-storey block to the right. Six bays run across, with the seventh (outer left) left blank; a lintel band course marks the 1st floor. At the centre, a shaped gable spans two bays at attic level, featuring two flanking windows with a bull's-eye window between them. Below, two 1st floor windows flank another bull's-eye window to the outer left, and two ground floor windows are present, the right-hand example formerly a door inscribed with the marriage lintel "God will provide 16 ID IS 46". To the right, a three-bay section includes an enlarged 1st floor window with a modern corbelled balcony to the inner example, and a modern lean-to porch at the centre ground. The outer left bay, now blank, was formerly fenestrated at both ground and 1st floor but is now blocked. Modern gabled timber dormers are symmetrically disposed to the outer right and left. The David Hamilton block advances to the outer right with an ashlar blocking course and a door at ground level to its left. A lower former service block occupies the outer right, with windows variously positioned and piend-roofed dormers.

The south elevation displays five bays symmetrically arranged, harled with ashlar margins. A modern door opens at the centre ground level. An elongated Palladian stair window occupies the upper portion, with a pair of flanking symmetrical bays below and a pediment in the blocking course at the centre of these bays just below the wallhead stack.

The north elevation comprises five bays arranged in a 1-3-1 pattern. An eaves cornice is stepped over the upper windows, while 1st floor windows carry cornices. An architraved door is positioned to the right of the central bays.

Throughout the building, sash and case windows predominate in various glazing patterns: six-pane over nine-pane, eight-pane, and two-pane over four-pane configurations. The roofs are of grey slate, piended, with lead flashings. Chimney stacks are generally broad and ashlar-coped at ridge level; tall rendered stacks feature on the Paterson block, while the Hamilton block displays grouped octagonal corniced stacks.

Associated with the main house is a former coach house and service block to the north. This is a single-storey structure, originally arranged around a U-plan court opening to the east. The west elevation is stuccoed with ashlar margins and features a triangular pedimented former archway at its centre, flanked by blind windows, with piend-roofed dormerheads to either side. The rear is rendered with ashlar margins. The east elevation displays the U-plan arrangement with piend-roofed dormerheads and modern windows. Octagonal coped wallhead stacks feature on the Hamilton block section, and tall rendered wallhead stacks rise on the side elevation.

The house is now subdivided into apartments, but decorative schemes from both the 1840 and 1915 remodelling periods survive. The main hall retains wooden wainscot panelling and ashlar chimneypieces executed with Tudor arches featuring trefoil motifs. An ashlar arch spans the space, with stonework stugged at the rear of the hall dating to 1915. Delicate plasterwork survives in the upper rooms to the south, and the stair features delicately carved barleysugar balusters.