Montrave House (Formerly Montrave Steading)

Montrave House, formerly Montrave Steading, dates to 1875, as indicated on the central gable. It is a large Baronial-style former steading, consisting of two three-bay, two-storey houses joined by a broadly symmetrical U-plan stable and offices. The construction is of squared and snecked sandstone rubble with ashlar dressings, featuring crowstepped gables and dormers. Timber doors are present throughout.

The principal, or southeast, elevation presents a pair of well-detailed two-storey, three-bay house blocks at the outer wings, with a slightly advanced, crowstepped gable centrally flanked by smaller crowstep pediments. Curved angles are present on the ground floor, with corbelling at first floor level. The house to the right (formerly the groom’s house) has a timber door with a decorative hood-mould on the ground floor. A curved-glass bay window addition with a metal canopy is on the block to the left wing. The rear courtyard range features three segmental-arch openings with timber doors to the left; the middle section was partially remodelled in the 1980s to create an office, incorporating a four-bay window on the ground floor.

The northeast elevation showcases an advanced gabled out-shot with large sliding timber doors and smaller doors flanking. Two timber doors are positioned at the re-entrant angle leading to the former groom’s house and a loft level. A detached stable sits opposite, constructed of rubble with a pitched slate roof and a two-part stable door; a lean-to addition is on its right side. The northwest elevation includes a long, single-storey lean-to block at the centre and a further pedimented loft door to the right, with gabled outer bays. The southwest elevation has been largely remodelled with a verandah/porch addition and new window openings at the roofline.

The windows are predominantly timber sash and case, mostly with a four-over-four-pane arrangement. The roof is covered with grey slate, and there are coped end and ridge stacks with octagonal clay cans. Cast-iron rainwater goods are also present.

The interior retains original timber-panelled stables in the north corner ranges. These stables feature timber stalls with cast-iron metalwork, including ornate door hinges, ball finials, and recessed brass door handles. There are integral water troughs and feeders in each stall, along with a pair of boxed timber hay chutes from the loft to the ground floor. The stables are separated by sliding doors on rails. A vertical mouse-hole ladder leads to the loft above. Flagstone floors are present. A stable in the northeast range has glazed tiles to the rear wall. Additional interior features include a wet room with a segmental-arched double-leaf timber door, a timber-panelled tack room with metal hangers, and a groom’s house entrance on the east elevation with a stair leading to a flat on the left and an entrance to the hay loft on the right. A hand-operated winch fixture is present in the loft for lifting hay through the loft door to the centre of the loft level. A wing on the southwest side was remodelled in the early 21st century to form a large single dwelling.