Cawder House

Cawder House

A Grade A listed building, Cawder House is a three-storey, eight-bay laird's house in L-plan form, originally built in 1624 by Sir Archibald Stirling. The building underwent extensive remodelling and enlargement in the classical style between 1813 and 1815 by the architect David Hamilton, with two-storey wings added to the east and west side elevations and further additions to the north. The house is now used as a golf club.

The exterior is constructed of roughly coursed, squared and tooled rubble with long and short rubble quoins, while the later wings feature polished strip quoins. Raised, polished rubble margins surround most openings, dating mostly from the 19th century. A base course with projecting eaves and blocking courses were added during the 19th century. The principal (south) elevation retains a raised stone plaque to the first floor centre of the southwest wall, bearing the Stirling of Keir and Cawder crest and dated 1624.

The principal south elevation is arranged with eight bays in a 2-5-1 configuration. A central Doric portico with plain columns featuring vermiculated central sections and corresponding pilasters supports a deep cornice over a plain entablature. Flanking the portico are square windows. A timber door sits in the penultimate bay to the right, with a wide segmental-arched window to the far right in a slightly advanced bay. Tall tripartite windows with consoled cornices above punctuate the elevation. To the left, a later door in the re-entrant angle has blank first and second floor windows above, which retain faded painted glazing. Two small windows light the advanced southwest wall. The first floor features particularly tall windows reflecting the principal rooms within. A single-bay, two-storey wing to the far left contains a central timber door and a large, corniced, tripartite segmental-arched window above. A wide, three-bay, two-storey service wing projects from the far right.

The east side elevation consists of a two-storey, four-bay service wing to the foreground, with the three-bay main house set behind. An advanced, piended-roofed bay to the far right of the service wing features a segmental-arched window with a lugged raised surround at ground floor level, and a large window at first floor with lugged surround and thin raised margin, supported on console brackets. A doorway opens to the ground floor of the penultimate left bay, while the far left displays a blind window. Single windows light the first floor bays, and three windows pierce the third storey of the main house, with the left and central bays blinded. The piended service wing roof returns at cill level.

The north (rear) elevation dates predominantly from the 19th century and shows a three-storey advanced and recessed extension to the original 17th century house; the eaves of the original structure remain visible, set back to the upper rear. The elevation displays irregular fenestration with raised margins. A tall segmental-arched stair window rises roughly to the centre, and a large round-arched window sits to the right return. Various single-storey service extensions of 20th century date occupy the foreground. A 20th century flat-roofed two-storey extension extends to the rear of the west wing. The plain elevation of the east service wing advances to the far left, with 19th and 20th century two-storey extensions in the re-entrant angle linking the main house to the east service wing.

The west side elevation displays a two-storey, three-bay wing with a plain, mid to late 20th century two-storey service extension recessed to the left. The original 17th century crowstepped twin gable of the main house rises behind the west wing. Two windows light the left and right bays at ground floor level, with the left window blinded. Three tall, central windows set close together pierce the first floor, beneath a continuous cill course and raised moulded architraves.

Windows throughout are predominantly 12-pane timber sash and case windows, though some plate glass replacements are evident. The main entrance is protected by 20th century double storm doors; the inner entrance retains an early 20th century panelled wooden door with stained glass to the upper section. The roof is pitched with piended outshots and wings, covered in grey slates. Corniced ashlar gableheads and ridge stacks feature round bases with octagonal shafted, capped clay cans.

The interior was substantially remodelled between 1813 and 1815 by David Hamilton in the classical style, with principal rooms arranged on the first floor. The Entrance Hall leads through the portico into a low, elliptically-arched hallway with panelled plasterwork ceiling returning to a classical string course on the walls. A segmental archway to the north opens into an elliptical reception area with round-arched pedimented doorways to left and right, now converted for golf club use. Classical cornices with engaged classical pilasters line the walls, those to the north framing a 19th century curved cantilevered stone staircase with decorative cast-iron balusters and mahogany handrail. The stairwell features a timber-panelled, splayed window surround, while the ceiling displays a plasterwork groin vault with a large central plaster roundel.

A long, barrel-vaulted corridor runs along the north side of the first floor, divided into bays by engaged columns supporting classically moulded plaster arches, with a single ceiling panel to each bay. Classical architraves with projecting cornices frame the principal doorways. At the east end, two square bays terminate the corridor; the first bay displays a ribbed plasterwork ceiling with floriated boss to the centre, while half-domed niches occupy the north and south sides. The second bay contains a doorway to the east wing and tall archways to the north and south. The west end of the corridor features a groin-vaulted section with an elaborately carved acanthus ceiling rose and large round-arched window, with an additional vault to the left return displaying a large elliptical roundel on pendentives, acanthus ceiling rose, classical mouldings, and engaged pilasters.

An ante room in the southwest corner retains a coombed ceiling, possibly dating from the 17th century. The 19th century Drawing Room occupies the first floor of the west wing and is a large, prestigious space. It features a timber-panelled dado with rail and a classical cornice to the upper wall section with coombed cornice above. The plasterwork ceiling displays a coffered border with Greek key detailing, a large sunken rectangular section at the centre, and a bead-and-reel detailed cornice to the reveals, complemented by foliated frieze detailing and an elaborate acanthus ceiling rose to the centre. A white marble chimneypiece to the east wall displays caryatids at its ends supporting an entablature with a cornucopia and classical scene at the centre, fleurons to the advanced end sections, and a thin projecting mantel.

The Dining Room occupies the remodelled east end of the original 17th century house and is similarly large. It features a dado rail and corniced eaves, with a simple coffered ceiling displaying foliated plasterwork detailing. A tall, blind segmental archway with moulded, pedimented architrave is inset to the northeast corner. A large window to the south wall retains a wood-panelled, splayed surround. A large timber-framed opening to the west wall leads into a long barrel-vaulted room running the full length of the south side of the main 17th century house, created by remodelling three original 17th century rooms into one. The coffered plasterwork vault is divided into three bays by Greek key detailing. Windows on the south wall correspond to the vaulted bays with splayed, timber-panelled surrounds. A mid to late 20th century mahogany bar occupies the west end, with a passage to the southwest corner to the left.