Chapelhill Villa, Westland Road, Rothesay, Bute

Chapelhill Villa is a later 19th-century building in Rothesay, Bute, originally a museum, which was converted into a flatted dwelling house in 1908. Subsequent alterations occurred in the mid to later 20th century, and the building is accessible from both the front and rear. The symmetrical, two-story structure, with three bays, is designed in a castellated Gothic style and is situated on a sloping site. A two-story, single-bay battlemented tower is centrally positioned at the front, with an entrance to a first-floor flat.

The front of the building is constructed from tooled cherry cocked yellow sandstone, while the sides and rear feature coursed, tooled yellow sandstone with lightly droved, polished yellow sandstone margins. Architectural details include a droved base course, a raised lintel course beneath overhanging eaves, and a corbelled parapet to the tower. Other features include droved strip quoins and stugged long and short surrounds to the openings, with flush cills. The tower’s pointed-arch bipartite windows incorporate timber mullions. A single-story, boarded timber lean-to addition is centered at the rear, providing access to a ground-floor flat. A roofless, coursed stugged sandstone single-story, four-bay outbuilding is located to the rear, also with stugged long and short surrounds to the openings and raised margins.

The front (east) elevation features a projecting tower with a two-leaf timber panelled door at ground level, above which sits a bipartite fanlight and a chamfered door surround. An angular hoodmould with figurative label stops is also present. A single window is located at the first floor level, above which rises a battlemented parapet. Single windows are positioned at both floors within the re-entrant angles to the left and right, with recessed single windows at ground level to the outer left and right. The rear (west) elevation incorporates a centered lean-to addition at ground level, along with single windows in the outer bays and a regularly fenestrated first floor. The north and south side elevations feature offset single windows at ground level, with blind single windows at first floor level in the outer bays.

The majority of the windows are timber sash and case windows with six panes, while the tower features pointed-arch bipartite casements. Modern roof tiling and replacement rainwater goods are present. A coped sandstone ridge stack on the south side supports octagonal cans.

The interior has been adapted to create two separate flats, with few original features remaining. The tower staircase incorporates decorative cast-iron uprights with timber treads, and reveals exposed rubble walls.

The outbuilding to the north (entrance) elevation has a door opening in the outer left bay and the penultimate bay to the outer right, with single window openings in the remaining bays.

The boundary wall, gatepiers and gate along Westland Road consist of a random rubble wall with round-arched rubble coping. Ball-finialed cast-iron gatepiers flank the pedestrian entrance to the east elevation, accompanied by a cast-iron gate.