Farmsteading, Muirhouse

Muirhouse is a farmhouse with additions in the style of Walter Newall, dated 1840, and features an altered courtyard steading to the north that may also have been built around the same time. The building is constructed of rubble with ashlar dressings; the house is painted with contrasting ashlar margins and projecting cills, while the steading is whitewashed. All roofs are covered with graded slates.

The house appears to have originally been L-shaped, possibly predating 1840, and faces south in an asymmetrical design. It consists of three bays, with a central door that has a pediment and an advanced, gabled left bay. The right bay has been altered. There are two near full-height rear wings added in 1840 that connect to the courtyard, with a back door set between them.

The windows are single sashes, originally small-paned, with blind windows located in the east and north gables of the easternmost rear wing, featuring astragals cut in ashlar. The south-facing side has 4-pane glazing, excluding an altered canted window, while the rear wings have 9-pane glazing on the first floor. The building has shaped skews and skewputts, along with end and axial stacks that have paired octagonal flues.

The steading consists of three adjoining ranges arranged in a U-plan, with the courtyard accessible from either side by a detached southern range. The western range, which serves as a barn, is two stories high and includes a cartshed with three plus one bays and a three-bay stable, complete with a loft that has a door and small openings in regular bays. The south gable of this range has been rebuilt in brick. The northern range is two stories at the western end, but the remainder has had its courtyard wall demolished and now features a modern corrugated roof. There is a low byre at the eastern end, which may have been heightened, with shouldered doorways and a series of rooflights.