Walled Garden, Pilmuir House

Pilmuir House is a substantial laird's house dated 1624 with early 18th century alterations, comprising two storeys plus attic and garret in a three-bay rectangular plan. The house features a central stair tower with later service additions set in re-entrant angles on either side. It is constructed of rubble with orange harling and ashlar dressings, with rounded arrises.

The north elevation presents the principal façade with three bays grouped towards the centre and a deep rectangular stair tower projecting at the centre. The doorway at ground level has a deep surround with bead and hollow moulding, above which sits a decorative armorial panel dated and bearing the initials "GH" and "AH" (those of William Cairns, the first owner, and his wife). A small stair window and garret bedroom window sit above, with a gablehead stack. To the left is a single-storey service bay with attic, featuring a small square window at ground and attic window above, topped with a catslide roof. To the right stands a corbelled circular stair turret set in the re-entrant angle on a squinch, with tiny lights below the eaves of its conical roof sweeping into the main roof. Windows light each floor to the right, with a dormerhead breaking the eaves for the attic window. An early 18th century stone stair with sweeping stone balustrade was added at the centre, leading to French doors set in what was formerly a window of the principal floor. Windows to each flanking bay appear at each floor, with a further dormerhead window to the attic at the centre. The east elevation has two bays with a small central window at ground level and windows to each bay in the floors above, including the garret. The west elevation shows two bays with windows to the principal and attic floors, with an outbuilding adjoined at ground level.

Throughout the house, sash and case windows feature 12-pane and other small-pane glazing patterns. Steeply pitched gables are finished with ashlar crowsteps and beak skewputts. Ashlar end and ridge stacks support the grey slate roof. Attic windows break the eaves through gabled dormerheads.

The interior contains a kitchen and office at ground level. The drawing room retains a 17th century ribbed plaster ceiling, and early 18th century pine panelling is found throughout.

Associated with the main house is a substantial walled garden laid out as a rectangle with high rubble, harled and pointed walls that continue as retaining walls to the north, with sections of rounded coping. Two pairs of square bee-bole recesses are set into the south side of the north wall. Lean-to toolsheds stand outside the garden to the north, and the garden gateway is flanked by an ashlar surround. Quadrant walls with ashlar coping define the driveways, while rusticated ashlar gatepiers mark the entrance.

Within the walled garden to the south of the mansion stands a lectern dovecot dated 1624, measuring 19 feet by 17 feet in plan. Built of rubble with ashlar rat course and coping, it features a doorway to the south with a relieving arch and square openings above the rat course on the south, east and west elevations. The interior contains 1000 stone nesting boxes.

Pilmuir provides an excellent and minimally altered example of a 17th century laird's house, comparable to Fountainhall in Pencaitland parish. The Lodge is listed separately.