Mansewood, Innerwick

Mansewood is a large rectangular house dating back to 1726, significantly altered and extended in the late 18th century and again by 1830, now standing on a sloping site. The house is double pile, with three storeys to the south side and two storeys to the 1830 north addition. The original fabric is rendered rubble with chamfered arrises to earlier window openings, while later additions feature painted ashlar.

The north elevation, which serves as the main entrance, was constructed around 1830 and has five bays. A slightly projecting central bay features a pilastered doorpiece, a panelled door, and a semi-circular fanlight above. Steps with decorative cast-iron railings lead to the doorway, oversailing the basement area below. The flanking bays have tall raised ground floor windows, while the basement windows are smaller. A blocking course and cornice run across the entire north elevation. The side elevations are blank and punctuated by wallhead stacks.

The south elevation features four widely spaced bays with windows to each floor, the centre bays being smaller. There are barred openings to the cellar area. Additions are visible to the left side of the house. A canted five-light timber oriel has been added to the east gable, with two irregular windows above the eaves. Two windows are located to the left of the west elevation, above a flat-roofed porch set into a basement recess. A pair of harled ridge stacks are present.

The windows are primarily sash and case, with 12-pane glazing to the 1830 addition and plate glass elsewhere. The original window cans have been retained. The roofs are piended to each parallel block, with slightly lower eaves to the later addition, and are covered with grey slates and lead flashings.

The interior includes a winding stone stair with cast-iron balusters, and a flagged basement. There is also a tripartite vestibule screen and panelled window shutters.

The stables, built around 1830, form an L-shaped group to the southwest of the main house. They are constructed of random rubble with droved ashlar dressings.

A three-bay south range forms part of the courtyard, featuring a segmental carriageway on the left and a central doorway with hayloft openings above. A ground floor window is located by the angle of the range, and a first-floor window is present in the north range. A lean-to stone outbuilding connects to the re-entrant angle of the courtyard via drum piers and a parapet wall. An advanced, single-storey addition sits to the south of the south wing, with a narrow doorway. Boarded doors with small-pane fanlights are found throughout.

Rubble boundary walls with semi-circular coping enclose the property, with the walls being highest to the garden at the south. Three pairs of drum gatepiers mark the entrances, with the gatepiers by the northwest gate being smaller in scale.

Mansewood served as the manse from the 19th century until recently, and it may have been built as such. The 1830 frontage is characteristic of the style later advocated in Cottage, Villa and Farm Architecture by Loudon.