Ardross Castle

Ardross Castle is a large Scottish Baronial mansion designed by Alexander Ross between 1880 and 1881, incorporating elements of an earlier house. The building is mainly two storeys with an attic, and features a prominent five-storey tower on the east side, which has an entrance at its base. The structure is characterized by its gabled and turreted design, constructed of sugared ashlar with finely tooled and polished ashlar dressings.

The east approach is particularly impressive, showcasing the five-storey tower with angle bartizans and a cap-house. The first floor includes an oriel window and the entrance is concealed by a large crenellated porte cochere. To the left, the gable frontage varies, featuring slender drum towers that flank a gable with a two-storey canted bay window. There is also a drum stair tower topped with a square corbelled cap-house. A further gabled wing includes an oriel window that is richly decorated with cable moulding.

The south front of the castle is also varied and gabled, with a canted bay window that rises two storeys and is adorned with richly carved cresting. It includes long circular and square angle bartizans, as well as a projecting gabled porch with a round-headed entrance. The rear service court is accessed through a round-headed crenellated archway. The windows are mainly mullioned with two-pane glazing, featuring corbelled detailing, decorative gablets on the dormer windows, crow-stepped gables, and corniced end and ridge stacks, all under slate roofs.

The grounds include terraces to the south and east, which are bordered by decorative stone balustrades, and a castellated gazebo at the southeast angle. A formal garden, designed by Edward Whyte between 1909 and 1910, is located to the east and is approached by further decorative stone balustrades and a pair of urns on end piers.

The gate piers consist of two pairs of octagonal structures made of tooled ashlar with moulded copes. The inner pair flanks the carriage gates and supports a pair of heraldic beasts, while the outer piers have shallow pyramidal caps. The gates are complemented by matching cast-iron spearhead designs for both carriage and pedestrian access. Low flanking coped rubble quadrants with crenellated terminal piers and spearhead railings complete the entrance.