Dunain House, near Inverness

Dunain House, near Inverness

An early 18th century symmetrical two-storey house over a raised basement with a five-bay south front, significantly enlarged by extensive additions on the side and rear in 1872. The exterior throughout is white harled with ashlar dressings and margins.

The original house features paired outer bays on its south front. The central entrance door is corniced and accessed by a much altered double stair that oversails the raised basement. A wide band course links the raised basement windows, with a narrower course positioned between the tall ground floor and first floor windows, which are themselves linked by a lintel-eaves band. The windows display a 12-pane glazing pattern. The facade is topped with a moulded eaves cornice and a stepped blocking course, with wide coped end chimneystack.

The 1872 additions dramatically altered the character of the building, particularly the north elevation where the principal entrance is now located. Here, an expansive entrance porch is fronted by a crenellated porte-cochere. To the west of the entrance stands a gabled elevation featuring a mullioned and transomed stair window with shouldered lintels and a canted oriel. Decorative pediments crown the dormer windows at wallhead level. Two-pane glazing is employed throughout these later additions, with stepped and moulded string courses. Two square towers with corbelled wallheads, later truncated and capped, punctuate the design, along with apex finials and coped ridge stacks.

The house was constructed before 1831 for William Baillie. In 1872, when it was owned by A. G. Dallas, the substantial side and rear additions were undertaken; a monogram 'AGD' marks the 1872 wing. Further additions of 20th century date were made when the building served as an annex to the neighbouring Craig Dunain Hospital. The architects responsible for both the original house and its later additions remain unknown.

The building suffered severe fire damage in September 2014. The exterior walls survive substantially intact to wallhead level, retaining their distinguishing stonework features including moulded window surrounds, decorative dormer pediments, the crenellated porte-cochere, the corbelled towers, and chimneystack detailing. However, the building has been left without roofs or windows, and the floors and internal walls have largely collapsed. A 1983 listing record documented that some decorative plaster ceiling cornices survived at that time and that the original staircase had been removed during the 1872 alterations.

The listing grade was changed from B to C and the listing record revised in 2020.