The Cottage, 31 High Street, Archiestown

The Cottage is a circa 1795 single-storey, three-bay wide cottage built symmetrically. It features small, square, single-bay pavilion wings facing south, creating a shallow U-plan. The exterior is constructed of mixed squared and tooled pink and yellow local granite, with harl-pointed granite rubble forming the rear. Later, rubble lean-to additions project from the east and west gables, filling the angles formed by the pavilions. A small fanlight is above the central door, which has double-leaf panelled doors. Flanking the door are windows, and each pavilion has a single window. Entrances on the inner faces have glazed upper lights. The windows are originally 12-pane, though some rear and east lean-to windows have been replaced with modern glazing. Coped end wallhead stacks are present on the central block and pavilions, topped by piended local slate roofs.

The interior, restored in the 1970s and early 1980s, retains its original layout. New chimneypieces have been installed, and the main public room features a restored corniced ceiling with original scroll brackets.

The property is approached by a pair of tall, square, tooled granite gatepiers with plain square caps. A low, coped front retaining wall with spearhead railings, stiffened at intervals and capped with urn finials, flanks the entry. Rubble rear and side walls enclose the property.

The site was originally granted as three feus by Sir Archibald Grant of Monimusk to Robert Cruikshank, described as a 'Gardener...lately returned from London.' The cottage served as the home of the parents of Donald Alexander Smith, Lord Strathcona and Mount Royal, a figure known for his involvement with the Canadian Pacific Railway, from 1841 to around 1860. The cottage represents an unusual miniature version of a formal 18th-century Laird's house, and demonstrates an attractive use of the local granite, which is notably difficult to tool. Restoration work began in 1973.