Rayleigh House, Eskdalemuir Observatory

Rayleigh House, Eskdalemuir Observatory, is a two-story villa-type observatory residence dating from 1908 and designed by W T Oldrieve. The building exemplifies the Arts and Crafts movement, notable for its complex slate roofs, some battered walls, and gabled bays with skews which run horizontally above the angles. The exterior is constructed of roughly-coursed and squared whinstone with contrasting long and short dressings, incorporating segmental window arches with contrasting voussoirs. The symmetrical entrance front faces south, featuring a canted flat-roofed porch with a window positioned above it; the outer bays are taller. Most windows are sash windows with 12-pane glazing. Coped stacks are present, and a north-facing two-light stone-built dormer is visible, with louvred apices rising above the main roofs.

To the north of the main house are two detached outbuildings of a similar style. The outbuilding closest to the east has a single storey and a west-facing elevation. It incorporates a coach-house within the gabled right bay, with a loft door above and a dovecote below the eaves on the south-facing return. The outbuilding nearest the north is plainer and two storeys high, with square-headed first-floor windows; it has been converted for residential use and now features modern glazing.