Stables, Bighouse

This is a mid-to-late 18th century mansion house, with alterations and additions from the earlier to mid-19th century and a further west wing added around 1900. It is part of the Strath Halladale estate and was the home of the Mackays of Strath Halladale, a branch of the Lords of Reay. A minister, the Reverend Alexander Pope, described it as “a modern house” in 1774. 17th-century memorials to the Mackays of Bighouse can be found in the Old Reay Burial Ground.

The house is two storeys over a raised basement, originally five bays wide with a slightly projecting and pedimented central bay. A wide bay with a full-height canted window has been added to the west. A large, double-pile rear wing, three storeys high with an attic, extends from the main block; the central part of this wing is likely older than the portion to the east. The exterior is harled with contrasting tooled ashlar dressings. The original wide entrance door features a Gothic fanlight with intersecting glazing, but it is now masked by a later projecting bowed porch with side windows, a bowed and piended platform roof, and a corniced entrance with long-short detailing, approached by a flight of steps. The ground floor has tall, narrow windows; these are smaller on the first floor and linked by a lintel and eaves band. The west bay features wide bipartites on both ground and first floors. The south front has 4-pane glazing, while the rear has 12-pane glazing. Paired, gabletted dormers rise through the rear wing's wallhead. Large, corniced end and ridge chimney stacks are present, punctuating the slate roofs.

Inside, the interior is simple, with a central stone staircase and a plat staircase featuring moulded risers. The oldest section of the house retains a symmetrical original floor plan.

The property is enclosed by coped rubble garden walls, extending along the west and north sides, incorporating the rear service court and offices. A pair of mid-18th century channelled ashlar gate piers with cornices and square caps are located in the west wall, aligned with a similar pair at the east leading to a walled garden (listed separately).