Mill House, Milldriggan Mill, Braehead

Milldriggan Mill House is a late-18th century, two-storey, three-bay house originally built as a mill owner's or manager's residence. It stands in the village of Braehead close to the north bank of Maltkiln Burn, historically known as Milldriggan Burn.

The main structure is largely constructed in painted rubble with squared quoins. A two-storey wing, lower in height, is attached to the east gable, with its ground floor in painted rubble and first floor in painted brick. A single-storey extension with a mono-pitched roof extends from the far eastern end.

The principal south elevation features a late-20th century glazed porch with a hipped slated roof at its centre. The north rear elevation has a harled gabled porch with a pitched roof. Windows to the principal elevation are two-pane, top-hopper timber replacements. The rear elevation contains a mixture of glazing patterns, including some four-pane windows in timber sash and case frames and some late-20th century non-traditional replacements; one window opening in the east wing was formerly a door. The gabled roof is covered in slates with a late-20th century dormer breaking the roof eaves on the east wing. Three coped end chimneystacks and sandstone skews with skewputts are present to the front elevation.

Interior photographs from 2023 show the house retains some late-18th or 19th century features, including whitewashed rubble walls, a large fireplace opening in one of the principal rooms, and panelled timber doors.

The mill and mill house are thought to date from the late-18th century. The listed mill record suggests it may originally have been built as a textile mill due to its size and quality, later becoming a corn mill. The water-driven mill was rebuilt and extended in the early-19th century by William Routledge, a miller from Cumbria. Shown on Ainslie's map of 1821, both mill and house first appear in detail on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map of 1848. The 1845-49 Ordnance Survey Name Book describes Milldriggan as a small settlement comprising a farmhouse, a corn and flour mill, and scattered cottages. The 2nd Edition Ordnance Survey map of 1894 names the complex as a corn mill and shows Milldriggan Mill House with its two-storey east wing and single-storey mono-pitched extensions.

The McDowall family owned the mill and occupied the house from at least the 1860s through to the 1960s. The 1861 Census Return lists William McDowall as a miller and farmer of 53 acres, employing four men in the mill and one domestic servant in the house. The adjacent Milldriggan Mill fell into disuse after the 1960s and was converted to a dwellinghouse around 2008-2012. As of 2023, Milldriggan Mill and Milldriggan Mill House are private houses in separate ownership.