The Bield, Elgin

The Bield in Elgin is a substantial two-storey and attic house built between 1930 and 1932 by James B Dunn, showcasing Scottish Renaissance details. The building features a northern entrance front and a southern main elevation, constructed from mixed bullfaced rubble with tooled ashlar dressings.

The entrance is located at the north in a slightly projecting gabled bay, with a service entrance to the left (east) that is screened by a round-arched balustraded service court. To the right (west) is a built-in double garage with plank doors and long wrought iron hinges decorated with thistle finials.

The southern front has four bays and includes a set-back two-storey wing on the west side, which houses the garage with a library above, and a single-storey and attic service range on the east side. The centre features an arcaded loggia framed by two round-headed arches supported by squat columns, reminiscent of 17th-century merchant houses on Elgin High Street. The wallhead is adorned with a pair of segmental-headed gabletted dormers. The flanking bays are advanced and gabled, with tripartite windows on both the ground and first floors.

The front windows are fitted with multi-pane sashes and plate glass lower lights. Many angles of the building are rounded and corbelled out at the first-floor height. The roof is covered with graded Banffshire slate, featuring stone ridges, wallhead, and ridge stacks.

Inside, a small entrance lobby leads into a large stair hall with a drawing room to the right and a dining room to the left. The drawing room is separated from the hall by removable panels. An oak staircase with plain balusters ascends to the first-floor landing, which is partially lined with cupboards that have panelled wooden doors. The attic includes a top-lit billiard room. The interior features simple moulded wooden chimneypieces with tiled slips, possibly Derbyshire marble in the drawing rooms, panelled doors, brass door furniture, simple moulded ceiling cornices, and parquet floors.