Barracks, Bighouse

Dated 1738, this is a small, two-story house with three bays, designed with projecting outer bays that create a U-shaped plan. It is constructed from harl-pointed rubble with ashlar margins. A corrugated iron porch obscures the central doorway, which sits within the re-entrant bay. A further entrance is located in the centre of the west bay, with a rear entrance flanked by small windows. The windows are narrow, with chamfered margins; those on the first floor are smaller than those on the ground floor. A square, off-centre first-floor window has decorative mouldings and a dated lintel. The windows have either four or twelve panes of glass. The roof is slate, with a piended shape and a stone ridge, and there are paired ridge stacks.

Inside, the house has been divided into two dwellings. Later 19th-century pine plank panelling lines the walls, and small fireplaces are present. A dated lintel, which may be reused, is inscribed “I L MACKAY BIGHOUSE 1738". The house itself is likely slightly later than the lintel’s date. It probably acquired the name "The Barracks" if it was used to house servants at some point.