Colstoun House

Colstoun House is a large mansion, originally built in the 15th century and subsequently altered significantly in the 16th, 18th, and mid-19th centuries. The house was substantially rebuilt in 1907, and the north wing was partially demolished in 1990, with the remaining portion finished in an 18th-century style. It presents as an imposing and severe building, comprising four stories including a raised basement. The design is based on a six-bay central block with asymmetrical wings. The exterior is harled, with exposed margins and chamfered reveals to older window openings. A plain cornice runs along the top of the building.

The east elevation of the central block has six bays and is dominated by a large, flat-roofed central porch with a moulded architrave doorway, topped by a heraldic panel and plaque. There is a window to each flank of the porch, along with a cavetto cornice and blocking course. The second and third floors have six windows each, while the first floor has two windows on either side of the porch, and the ground floor has one window on each side. Three gabled and pedimented dormers light the attic. The west elevation is irregular, with a single window on the ground floor, two windows on the first floor (one of which is a French window accessed by a stone forestair), three large windows on the second floor, and four small windows on the third floor. There is a window on each floor of the south flank, with two windows at ground level. Three gabled and pedimented dormers are also present. A corbelled bartizan turret is located on the northwest corner, close to a datestone dated 1574.

The south wing is two bays wide. A four-panelled door with a plain fanlight is situated on the first floor, in the angle where it returns to the central block, and is accessed by a forestair. The east elevation of the south wing is symmetrical, featuring a single window at first floor level. The south elevation has irregular openings, with one window filled in on the second floor. The west elevation retains some older window openings but is mainly defined by a flat-roofed, tripartite canted block rising to the second floor, with three large windows on the first floor that are foreshortened on the ground and second floors, finished with a cornice and parapet.

The remaining north wing portion is two bays wide, with irregular openings on all floors to the east and north elevations. A tall stair window is present on the east elevation, and a doorway leads to a courtyard on the north side. Only two openings are present on the west elevation, one on the ground floor and one on the first floor. The courtyard is enclosed by a harled screen wall, and two small lodges, retained as garages, are situated nearby. These are single-story and harled with a cornice and blocking course.

Most windows are timber sash and case with 12 panes, although some have 16 panes (in the north wing) and others are 2-pane plate glass. The roofs are all piended and covered in graded grey slate, with the exception of those stated otherwise. There are seven large ashlar chimney stacks, each topped with plain cans.

Garden statuary, including carved sundials and urns, likely dating from the later 19th-century alterations, is located on the lawn across Colstoun Burn.