Kennels, Alderston House

The Coach House at Alderston House dates from around 1750, with evidence suggesting that the southern half was added around 1790. The architect is unconfirmed but may have been John Douglas of Edinburgh. This impressive building, designed as a stable and coach-house, has a square plan and is primarily two stories tall. It is constructed mostly of harled whinstone rubble, featuring significant dressing in broached, droved, and carved sandstone.

The front elevation, facing north, is characterized by a bold pedimented portico. This portico has an entablature supported by four Tuscan columns and a timber architrave, backed by squared pilasters. The pediment contains an elliptical oculus. A central arched doorway is flanked by two windows behind the portico, with two symmetrical three-centred archways on either side, each featuring keystones and impost blocks, cornices, and narrow attics that include rectangular hay loft openings.

The south elevation is symmetrical with five bays, highlighted by three advanced bays at the center and corners. Each of these bays has bipartite windows on both the ground and first floors, topped by a cornice and a dummy attic with blind windows. The two intervening bays each contain a single doorway. There is also a single-storey shed attached to the west, which has a doorway, cornice, and blocking course.

The east elevation features three advanced bays, with a dummy attic over a cornice and a downturned dummy lintel above a blind window, along with an ashlar base course, except for the southern bay, which has a doorway on the ground floor. A blind-arched window with a keystone and impost blocks is located in a recessed bay to the north.

The west elevation is similar to the east but does not have an advanced southern bay and includes a lean-to shed at ground level with a small ocular window. The fenestration is mostly small-pane, with some fixed and some sash and case windows, several of which have been replaced.

The roof is essentially double piended and is currently undergoing repairs with graded grey Scotch slate. Three octagonal ashlar stacks are irregularly positioned above the east and west elevations.

The kennels are constructed of harled rubble with ashlar dressings and an eaves course. There are two doorways on the east side leading to an enclosure with cast-iron railings, and two ocular vents on the west side leading into a short enclosed latrine. The pyramidal roof of the kennels is also under repair.