Blacketlees

Blacketlees is a farmhouse dating from around 1806 or 1808, featuring two storeys and three bays, along with a detached courtyard steading to the north that includes an apsidal horsemill.

The south elevation of the house is constructed from droved red ashlar, while the other sides are made of coursed rubble, with polished dressings and rusticated quoins. It has a central doorway that is pedimented and architraved, adorned with a swagged frieze and the date inscribed in the tympanum. The doorway features a recessed nine-panelled door with a decorative fanlight above it. The windows are sash style with four-pane glazing. There is a band course at the base and between the floors, as well as an eaves/lintel band and cornice. The roof has straight skews, end stacks, and is covered with slate. A central rear door is located below a stair window.

The steading includes some 18th century buildings, but its current form is likely mostly contemporary with the house. It consists of four ranges built around an open courtyard, which is accessed from the northwest corner through a flat-arched overthrow made of ashlar. The steading is constructed from red rubble with ashlar dressings and has slate roofs. The western range, possibly built in the second half of the 18th century, is a notable two-storey barn featuring two tiers of slit ventilators on both elevations (some of which are now blocked), large barn doors with keystoned and basket-arched designs on the flanks, and a similarly detailed cart entrance to the courtyard at the south end. There are also two cart arches facing west that have been inserted, along with the horsemill located to the northwest. The eastern range is also two storeys and was built in at least two phases, while the low southern range connects the corners of the adjoining ranges and includes a pedestrian pend leading to the house. The roofs of the steading are also slate-covered.