Balcaskie House

Balcaskie House is an A-grade Scottish Renaissance house, initially an L-plan structure dating from the western two-thirds of the south front and the western gable of the north front. The original house was three storeys high with dormerheads, with the northern jamb raised to four storeys. Sir William Bruce enlarged and altered the house for himself between 1668 and 1674, and William Burn made further additions and alterations in 1827, followed by David Bryce in 1853. Bruce extended the original L-plan to a U-shape, incorporating four angle pavilions and infilling the space between the north wings with a two-storey block, likely featuring a platform and balustraded roof.

The north elevation's central section is now five bays wide and three storeys high, with a raised upper storey dating from the mid-18th century. It is flanked by crowstepped cross wings, three storeys high at the east and four at the west, with regularised windows. The gable end is flush with the central bays. A projecting porch, built between 1830 and 1831 by Thomas Clark, features an 18th-century Venetian window above. The outer advanced pavilions are linked by quadrant screens to five-bay, two-storey, piended-roof pavilions, likely dating from circa 1745.

The long garden front is two storeys high with an attic, displaying irregular fenestration, and features a cast-iron balcony at first floor level (from 1830-31, also by Clark). This balcony partly obscures Bruce’s original pedimented and banded pilaster doorpiece, which supports swags of fruit and a basket. Projecting end pavilions are present at each end, with the west pavilion featuring an oriel installed in 1853.

The east elevation includes a double-gabled out-shot housing a service stair, built between 1830 and 1831. The western elevation has a corbelled, ogee-domed turret and stair tower with a conical roof. Bryce infilled a single bay in 1856-58, creating a connection between the outer square pavilions. The roof is steeply pitched with slate, featuring crowsteps and dormerheads facing the garden; the north slope has a shallower pitch.

Inside, much of Bruce’s original interior remains. This includes a chequered marble floor in the main hall. Three Bruce apartments on the first floor open off a gallery, with high-relief ceilings by George Dunsterfield. Originally, these included a west Dining Room (now a Drawing Room), a central Drawing Room (now a Library), and a State Bed-chamber (now a Dining Room), with painted ceiling panels in the central and eastern rooms. First-floor apartments from circa 1830 feature Burn chimneypieces. A stair from the entrance hall was constructed by Burn circa 1831, and a west stair by Bryce. On the second floor, the Blue Bedroom and Globe Room have low-relief plaster ceilings. A fine balustraded terrace garden is present, along with numerous garden ornaments, including urns and mercury figures.