Clarinish House, Gareloch Road, Rhu

Clarinish House is a villa dating from the later 19th century. It’s an asymmetrical, rectangular building, harled with sandstone margins, quoin strips, string courses, and a base course, topped with projecting eaves.

The south elevation has four bays, with a round tower on the outer left corner. The windows are symmetrically placed on both the ground and first floors. To the right of the tower is a blank gabled bay, and to the outer right, a striking pagoda-style Edwardian porch with stone steps, flanking walls, and a half-piended leaded roof supported on chamfered wooden piers. The porch has a moulded pink sandstone door surround with a two-leaf wooden door. A window is located to the left of the porch entrance, and windows are symmetrically placed on the first floor. A single-storey, modern garage, built in a complementary style, sits to the far outer right.

The west elevation is asymmetrical, with a full-height, ashlar, canted bay on the outer left. A plain garden door, reached by stone steps and incorporating a modern aluminum door, is immediately to the right. Two windows are located in the bays to the right, and another is positioned in the round tower. Two windows are symmetrically disposed on the first floor.

The north elevation features a blank bay to the outer right, and a two-bay advanced block with two windows on the ground floor and a single window on the first floor, with windows symmetrically disposed on the return. A lower, two-storey addition, built in a complementary style, extends to the outer left, which includes a door on the ground floor right and a window above.

The rear (east) elevation is largely obscured by recent additions. A stair window bay, round-headed with small leaded lights, projects centrally. A gable to the left now has a two-storey jamb extension, and a bipartite window is located to the left of the centre bay. A porch is built below the stair window, and a garage is on the left.

The windows are four-pane sash and case. The roof is covered in grey slate, with tall, coped wallhead and ridge stacks with quoins.

The interior was not inspected in 1993.

To the east of the house is a small, L-plan range of former stables, now converted into residential use. The stables are built of rubble with harl pointing, ashlar margins, and have seven bays on the south elevation. A French door is located in the penultimate bay to the left, and a hayloft door is off-centre to the right. The west elevation has three bays, with a blocked door (now a window) to the left. There are two symmetrically disposed dormerheads. A modern garage, rendered with ashlar quoin strips, is located to the right. The windows are four-pane over six-pane sash and case, and the roof is covered in grey slate.