Salix House, Banavie Locks, Caledonian Canal

Salix House, near Banavie, is a building dating from circa 1815, likely designed by Thomas Telford, with later additions. Originally intended as a lock keepers’ house for the Caledonian Canal, it was planned as two flatted dwellings, with living space on both the ground and first floors.

The house is symmetrical in design, facing southeast. It is a two-storey structure with three bays, constructed with harled walls and painted tooled ashlar margins. A central, three-windowed bay projects forward and is bowed, rising the full height of the building. The windows of this bowed bay are linked by cill bands, and it is topped with a shallow, piended roof. A formerly projecting rear bay is now largely obscured by later porches, which mask the original entrance. A single-storey wing, featuring a tall end stack on the north gable, extends from the main body of the house.

The windows are fitted with 12 panes. Notable features include a deep base course, a wide central ridge stack with a battery of flues, and a shallow piended slate roof with deep, soffitted eaves. The statutory address is Caledonian Canal, Banavie, Neptune's Staircase, Studio Salix.