Amhuinnsuidhe Castle, Harris

Amhuinnsuidhe Castle, located in Harris, is an asymmetrical Scots baronial mansion house designed by architect David Bryce and built between 1864 and 1867, with a datestone marking the year 1867. The castle was constructed for the Earl of Dunmore, whose grandfather acquired the island of Harris in 1834. Unusually for a country house, the main road runs alongside the front wall. In front of the castle is a levelled garden area, which has been used for grazing since 1991, and a sea wall beyond, along with outworks to the west.

The exterior of the mansion is relatively plain, featuring only minimal sculptural detail, such as painted cable moulding with knotted terminals above the main entrance and a string course that separates the two lower floors. The building is made of imported freestone, with stugged and snecked ashlar, while local rubble is used at the rear. All windows are plate glass sashes, and the roof is slate with massive chimney stacks. The south-facing principal front is composed of three adjoining "tower houses," each topped with crenellated parapets and mostly unroofed bartizans. The inner tower is the tallest at four storeys, featuring a cross-window above the main entrance and an oriel window alongside, indicating a public room inside. There is also a single angle turret that loosely resembles elements from Pinkie and Hoddom.

The flanking towers are each one storey lower, with the west tower recessed and the east tower aligned with the main wall, which has a deeply-recessed link to the crow-stepped east range. This design suggests a 17th-century addition to a pre-existing house. The east range features a central gable on both the three-bay east flank and the south front, the latter of which includes a deep-corbelled oriel.

In front of the castle, the sea wall is constructed of diagonally-set blocks beneath a crenellated parapet, which has cannon facing outward, and granite coping slabs. A flight of steps leads down to the sea, positioned opposite the main door of the mansion. There are retaining walls at the rear and to the west of the house, and an outbuilding is set into the bank. The interior was not inspected during the 1989 resurvey.