31 Eglinton Street, Beith

Built in 1897, this two-storey tenement building at 31 Eglinton Street, Beith, was originally constructed for the Post Office. It comprises a shop on the ground floor and flats above, with five bays visible from the front. The shopfront is distinguished by pilasters that divide nine bays, a timber fascia, and a dentilled cornice. Centrally located are two timber panelled doors. The first floor features three bipartites, with the outer bays having a shallow curve and three lights each. Central corniced wallhead stacks are topped with an arch dated ‘1897’ framing a painted Royal coat-of-arms. The building has a moulded eaves cornice and a base course. The ground floor is painted, while the first floor is polished ashlar stone, with rubble construction at the rear.

The rear elevation is two storeys high and includes a later brick lean-to addition. A single-storey wing is located to the rear left, with a slated monopitched roof. Fenestration is irregular.

The interior features a common close with a barley-twist cast-iron balustrade and a timber handrail. The dado is cream-tiled, with a brown foliate band. Timber panelled doors lead to a first-floor room with a decorative cornice. A small original mahogany chimneypiece remains in a ground-floor room at the front, which has timber v-groove boarded walls. The shop windows are plate glass in timber surrounds, while the first-floor windows are timber sash and case with plate glass. Grey slates cover the roof, and cast-iron rainwater goods are present.

The building was initially used by the Post Office, and as of 2003, it is used solely for sorting mail. It is marked on the Ordnance Survey map of 1910.