Ardtornish Tower

Ardtornish Tower

A large mansion built between 1884 and 1891 by Alexander Ross, with interior decoration by John Kinross. The building is a two-storey structure with attic, arranged on a roughly T-shaped plan with long elevations facing west and south. The south front is the principal elevation, distinguished by a small square tower near its centre and a prominent five-storey French main tower at the south-east corner. The tower rises steeply with a pyramidal slate roof topped with decorative cast-iron ridge brattishing.

The exterior is constructed of sneck coursed tooled ashlar rubble, with much of this fronting a concrete core, and tooled ashlar dressings; rear elevations facing the service court are rendered. A glazed canopy runs the full length of the south front and returns across the west gable, supported on cast-iron columns decorated with chevron moulding and paired brackets.

The west entrance front takes an L-plan form and includes a shallow pointed-headed archway in the north-west, passing under the billiard room to reach the rear court. The centre of the west elevation features a four-arched arcade serving as an entrance loggia, adapted from an earlier house, which leads to the principal entrance. This comprises a round-headed, moulded and stop-chamfered doorpiece with a double-leaf linenfold panelled door positioned in the re-entrant angle. The south front is irregular, with bipartite and tripartite window arrangements on the ground floor. Large piended dormers, mainly with tripartite windows, feature on the south and west elevations, some with hoodmoulds; glazing is predominantly of two panes.

The roofs are slated with some lead flats and various glazed rooflights. Tall batteries of decorative ashlar chimney stacks rise from the walls, with particularly tall examples from the south-east tower.

The interior contains richly decorated principal public rooms. The main entrance leads to a lobby and then a spacious stair hall, featuring a handsome wide stair with panelled stairwell. The stair incorporates richly carved balustrades in 17th-century patterned style with a polished handrail, and square newels topped with urn finials. The hall and first-floor landing have coffered ceilings. Carved and pedimented doorpieces with double-leaf panelled doors open to the public rooms.

The drawing room is lined with raised and field panelling divided by slender panels with carved swags. It contains a marble chimney piece with a decorative cast-iron grate, matched by moulded swags in the side panels, and a coffered plaster ceiling. A library in the south-west has a carved chimney piece with decorated cast-iron grate and a decorative coffered ceiling. The dining room features a marble chimney piece and plaster ceiling.

To the rear of the house, positioned on the cliff edge, stands a tall square five-storey clock tower, originally built between 1856 and 1866. This is constructed of rubble with contrasting tooled ashlar dressings. The entrance is in the north elevation. Giant angle pilasters rise to a string course defining the fifth storey and are linked at lower stages by corbelled courses. The south elevation displays round-headed windows with decorative lights on the first and second floors, and a clock face surrounded by a cable moulded frame. The upper storey features a three-arched arcade with round-headed arches and blocked imposts, blind at the rear. A tall pyramidal slate roof with cast-iron finial crowns the tower, though the roof was altered and raised during the 1884-91 construction period.

The service areas include a triangular rear service court enclosed by a single-storey semi-circular range of game larders fronting the steep cliff.