46 Eglinton Street, Beith

This is an 1830s two-storey, three-bay classical villa located on Eglinton Street, Beith. It was subdivided into two dwellings around 1900 and includes later 19th-century dormers. A shallow, slightly projecting bay features at the centre of the front façade. The original timber panelled front door, with a letterbox fanlight set within a moulded architrave, remains in place. The windows have raised sills and architraved surrounds to the first floor. The building's exterior is now rendered with cement, but the side and rear walls are of sandstone rubble with raised margins. The front has a base course, eaves course, cornice, and a centrally raised panelled blocking course. Two large, pitched-roof dormers are present.

The rear elevation is two storeys with an attic and basement, displaying an irregular pattern of window openings. The first-floor windows are timber sash and case windows with plate glass (originally 12-pane windows, from which the astragals have been removed), while the ground floor windows are uPVC. One original window remains on the rear ground floor, featuring a 12-pane upper and lower sash, and a 16-pane window illuminates the basement. The roof is covered in grey slates with straight skews, and brick end stacks topped with octagonal clay cans. Cast-iron rainwater goods are also present.

Inside, the entrance hall features later classical-style vestibule doors leading to each dwelling. A bracketed, depressed arch with a dentil cornice is visible. A stone staircase rises to the first floor, featuring a later timber balustrade alongside an original cast-iron section on the landing, with a surviving mahogany handrail. A domed cupola sits above the landing, decorated with moulded panels and a dentil cornice. A later timber staircase with a cast-iron balustrade and mahogany handrail leads to the attic. The former drawing room retains a fine cornice decorated with anthemion, palmette, and acanthus fleurons, along with a cornucopia frieze and an elaborate leaf design ceiling rose. The panelled doors throughout have eight fields of panels; those within the first-floor drawing room have timber pilasters supporting entablatures. Original fireplaces are largely absent, but the first-floor sitting room features an Edwardian carved oak overmantel, green glazed tile slips, and a brass hood.

Eglinton Street in the early 19th century was populated by prosperous merchants, manufacturers, and professionals, with the grandest houses being concentrated on the north side, built later than those on the opposite side of the street. No. 46 was likely subdivided around 1900, when the attic stair and dormers were added. Prior to this subdivision, the house had a broad entrance hall leading to four rooms, including a dining room, and a basement containing a kitchen, larder (reportedly with marble shelves), and laundry, likely used for staff accommodation. The first floor, accessed by the stone staircase lit by the domed cupola, featured a broad hall with the front drawing room, which benefits from a brighter and more decorative appearance thanks to its two south-facing windows, showcasing fine and fashionable plasterwork and cornices characteristic of Regency decoration. The building is marked on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1858.