Halkshill, Largs

Halkshill, located in Largs, is a two-storey, seven-bay house built around 1815 in the style of David Hamilton. Originally designed as a stable block, it features classical details. The central bay is slightly advanced and has a raised pediment, flanked by broad panelled angle pilasters. The central and outer bays are finished in painted ashlar, while the inner bays are made of squared whinstone with painted ashlar dressings. The entrance includes a pilastered door with sidelights, and above it is a first-floor window, all set within a shallow round-headed panel. The panel features oval designs with birds in the spandrels, and there is a blind oculus in the pediment topped by a domed birdcage bellcote.

The ground and first-floor windows in the outer bays are set in shallow basket-arched panels, with the ground floor windows framed by architraves and raised segmental heads above the 15-pane windows. Most windows are 12-pane sashes, and the first-floor windows in the inner bays have raised heads that break the eaves band. The building has a cornice and a blocking course, with two symmetrically placed stacks and a piended slate roof. The wings extend eastwards to form a U-plan, with the southeast corner curved and harled. The east elevation of the central block features a tall stair window beneath a gabled and latticed canopy, with a recessed pediment above.

Inside, the entrance hall showcases engaged Corinthian columns that support a basket arch with a coffered soffit. A cantilevered stair with decorative cast-iron balusters leads to a rear lobby that has a "forget-me-not" mosaic floor. The interior also includes panelled doors in reeded architraves, and there are basket-arched wall recesses in both the dining room and the large drawing room, which is flanked by Corinthian pilasters that support an entablature. The cornices are simply decorated with guilloche and Greek key ornamentation.