Woodside Hotel, 80-82 High Street, Aberdour

Woodside Hotel, 80-82 High Street, Aberdour

Built in 1872, this is a three-storey, three-bay rectangular-plan hotel distinguished by a central entrance tower flanked by a single-storey and attic wing to the west and a two-storey and attic wing to the east. The principal block is constructed of tooled, coursed ashlar with a base course, raised chamfered window margins, and polished ashlar long and short quoins to the angles. The tower features an eaves course. The ground floor and margins of the east wing are of red sandstone ashlar, with harled upper floors; the west wing and Doune Hall have harled walls with sandstone ashlar margins and details.

On the south-east principal elevation, a slightly advanced entrance tower breaks the eaves at the centre. The tower features a carved mask to the keystone of a round-arched entrance door, framed by a pilastered doorpiece with decorative consoles supporting an entablature. A modern window occupies the ground floor of the left bay, with a pair of windows in the right bay. At first floor, the entrance tower has a margined window with a strapwork pediment incorporating a date inscription of 1872, a bipartite window in the left bay, and a three-light canted stone oriel corbelled out in the right bay. The second floor has a margined window in the entrance tower, with bipartite windows in gabled stone dormerheads breaking the eaves in the flanking bays.

The west wing has an asymmetrical four-bay principal elevation with regular fenestration in the bays to the right of centre. A pedimented doorpiece frames a doorway at the outer right, and a stone base supports a flat-roofed canted bay window in the bay to the left of centre. A doorway occupies the outer left bay. A tripartite window sits within a large stone dormerhead breaking the eaves in the bays to the left of centre, while semicircular and triangular stone dormerheads top dormers breaking the eaves in the bays to the right of centre.

The east wing displays an asymmetrical three-bay elevation with a high base course. An architraved door sits at the centre with a bipartite window to the right; above at first floor is a three-light canted stone oriel, with regular fenestration in the bays to the left.

Doune Hall presents a near-symmetrical three-bay elevation with stop-chamfered margins to windows grouped at the centre. Bipartite windows are centred at ground and first floors, with an arrowslit in the gable breaking the eaves at the centre. A window occupies the ground floor in the bay to the left of centre, and a corniced overdoor frames an entrance in the bay to the right of centre, with regular fenestration in the outer bays at first floor.

The north-west rear elevation features a modern extension advanced at ground floor of the principal block. A pavilion-roofed stair tower projects at the centre with louvers to paired windows at first floor and a single window centred above. Regular fenestration appears at first floor in the flanking bays, with piend-roofed dormers breaking the eaves at second floor. A gabled rectangular-plan annexe projects to the rear of the west wing, featuring three bull's-eye clerestorey windows in the north gable and segmental-arched clerestorey windows to the side elevations. Irregular fenestration marks the rear of the east wing and Doune Hall.

Fenestration comprises a panelled two-leaf timber principal entrance door and multi-pane timber windows at ground floor, with four-pane timber sash and case windows to the upper floors. Windows to the west and east wings have multi-pane upper sashes and single-pane lower sashes, while Doune Hall contains various multi-paned timber windows. The entrance tower has a French pavilion roof with bell-cast eaves, fish-scale slating and brattishing surmounted by a weathervane. The principal block roof features grey slates and saw-toothed ashlar skews, the west wing has a grey slate roof with red ridge tiles, and Doune Hall and the dormered mansard roof of the east wing are covered with red plain tiles. Coped gable apex stacks with circular clay cans crown the principal block and wings.

The interior of the principal hotel areas is largely modernised. The upper part of the annexe retains elaborate timberwork, featuring a continuous heavy timber cornice below arcaded segmental-arched clerestorey window recesses on all sides, enclosing panelled aprons with elaborately carved projecting shelves. A continuous dentilled cornice sits above, with a barrel-vaulted ceiling in decorative stained glass. Segmental gable ends enclose carved coats of arms of Australia and Great Britain to the north and south respectively. Nine-pane fixed-lights to the circular clerestorey windows incorporate freeform foliate carving to the surrounds.