Mains Of Mayen

Mains of Mayen is a 2-storey, L-plan house dated 1680, featuring a circular stair turret in the re-entrant angle. The building consists of three sections constructed around 1600, 1680, and the mid to late 19th century. It is harled with whinstone and granite ashlar dressings, and the earliest part of the house has substantial boulder footings located at the north. The north-south rectangular block has its main east elevation comprising the circa 1600 section at the north and the 1680 section at the south, which includes a simple doorway beneath a dated and inscribed plaque.

The mid to late 19th century addition is a 2-storey, 3-bay block that is set at right angles to the main structure, featuring a projecting gabled porch on the north face and enlarged ground floor windows. The circular stair tower has two windows and small gabletted wallhead dormers, topped with a bellcast slated roof. The varied fenestration includes small gabletted dormers on the older portion, with one dormer on the east side dated 1680. The early block, likely from around 1600, has a substantial early ridge stack with end stacks, while the mid to late 19th century wing has a smaller ridge stack. The roofs are slate with crowstepped gables.

Inside, the house has a simple interior featuring a plank door with long blacksmith's hinges on the east elevation leading into a room with a hearth in the cross wall, which has roughly tooled granite facings and two mural aumbries. The ground floor room at the north shows indications of a former internal mural stair, while the wheel stair is located in the drum tower.