Arched House, High Street, Ecclefechan

Arched House, dating to circa 1791, is an unusual and symmetrically arranged pair of two-storey houses located on High Street, Ecclefechan. The house nearest the west side is the birthplace of Thomas Carlyle. The houses are built of rubble with ashlar dressings and are whitewashed, with contrasting painted margins. The facade is five bays wide, featuring a wide, centrally placed depressed-arched pend with a Venetian window above. Sash windows are set within the outer bays on each floor. A panelled door with a fanlight and a datestone (the stone "1573" is a reset, with other stones being modern) are located in the intermediate bays. Small-paned glazing is present throughout. Both houses originally had a doorway leading into the pend, but the doorway on the east side has been replaced with a window. The building has straight skews, corniced end stacks, and a slate roof. Asymmetrical and altered rear (south) wings are present, along with a full-height wing closest to the west (now a caretaker's house), which was added or heightened in the 19th century and extended one bay in the 20th century. Late 19th-century openings provide access to a courtyard.

The interior of Carlyle's birthplace retains family furnishings and memorabilia, some associated with the house. A large kitchen fireplace features stone corbels supporting a long lintel, and a cobbled pavement with "loupin-on" stones is also present. Carlyle's birthplace is owned by the National Trust for Scotland and is open to the public. The house is said to have been built by Carlyle's father and uncle.