Delniesmuir, Delnies

Delniesmuir is an asymmetrical two-storey house with an attic, built around 1910 in the English Arts and Crafts style, possibly to the designs of W L Carruthers & Alexander. Located on the outskirts of Nairn on elevated ground overlooking Moray Firth, the house sits within large private gardens.

The building has an irregular plan with painted and harled walls, projecting eaves and jetties to the first floor. The principal north elevation is U-plan with a main re-entrant doorway sheltered by an open loggia. The east and west elevations are plainly detailed with irregular openings. The south elevation is L-plan with a shallow canted bay to the left of the ground floor.

The shallow piended roof carries graded stone slates and swept dormer windows. Painted and rendered ridge and end chimneystacks have moulded sandstone copings and clay cans. Windows are largely one, two or three-light multi-pane timber casements, some with mullions and transoms. Multi-paned timber sliding sashes appear across the east elevation and to the upper floors of the west and rear elevations. Much early glass survives.

The interior was partially altered during the later 20th century, though the early layout and decorative scheme remain apparent. The plan comprises a large reception hall leading to a long north-south corridor, from which the main stair and rooms are located. The attic contains a flat accessed separately from the east elevation via one of two service stairs. Early decorative features include simple timber-panelled doors, skirtings, in-built cupboards, cornicing and exposed timber ceiling beams in the principal rooms. Cast-iron and brick fireplaces feature throughout, including an inglenook in the ground floor office which has timber-panelled walls. The reception hall, accessed via an oversized round arch to the northeast, retains early features including clay floor tiles and timber boards, exposed ceiling beams, and dark timber doors with decorative iron hinges, handles and fretwork.

The single-storey former Gate Lodge, now Delniesmuir Cottage, has a symmetrical three-bay principal west elevation with harled and painted walls. The shallow piended roof has projecting eaves and replacement graded stone slates, with ridge and end chimneystacks matching the main house. The rear east elevation has been altered by the addition of a conservatory, excluded from the listing. Windows are largely late 20th-century timber replacements except those to the south and west elevations, which have later leaded lattice insertions. The interior layout and fabric have been substantially altered with no early 20th-century features visible.

The entrance drive has plain square gate piers of snecked stone flanked by matching walls.

Historical Context

Following the opening of the railway from Inverness in 1855 and its later expansion to Aberdeen, Nairn attracted new residents drawn by its sea air, outdoor bathing facilities and golf courses. As a result, numerous large villas were built in Nairn and the surrounding area during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Built around 1910, Delniesmuir was one such villa and was the residence of Major Macandrew in 1911.

A sales entry dated 15 September 1926 noted the house comprised public rooms, ten bedrooms, dressing rooms, three bathrooms, servant's rooms, an entrance lodge, a garage and four acres of grounds. The building first appears on the National Grid Map (surveyed pre-1930, published 1959), where the footprint of the buildings and setting appears largely as it is now and as shown on the Ordnance Survey map of 1964.

During the second half of the 20th century, Delniesmuir was converted into a residential care home for the elderly, with alterations made to the interior layout and fabric. The house and former gate lodge were sold to a private individual in the late 1990s and further changes were made. A late 20th-century aerial photograph shows single-storey structures with flat corrugated iron roofs abutting the east elevation, which were replaced by the present extension in the early 21st century, excluded from the listing. The house currently operates as offices with residential accommodation.