Balvonie, 1 Halketburn Road, Skelmorlie

Balvonie, 1 Halketburn Road, Skelmorlie

Balvonie is a 2-storey, roughly U-plan gabled house with forecourt, designed by H E Clifford in 1903. The house is constructed of bull-faced snecked red sandstone with ashlar dressings, supplemented by some white-painted render to the first floor. It features decorative half-timbering, crenellated entrance and bay windows, a small verandah to the south, stone-mullioned windows with predominantly multi-light designs, and plain bargeboards to the gables. The flush long and short ashlar quoins are characteristic of the period, and most openings are chamfered.

The north elevation facing the entrance courtyard is the most elaborate. An open courtyard is enclosed by advanced gabled bays to east and west. A slightly advanced 2-storey crenellated entrance tower occupies the right-hand re-entrant angle, featuring a timber-panelled front door with oval light set within a depressed-arch, stop-chamfered architrave in a recessed porch. The porch itself has a stop-chamfered pointed arch with hoodmould. A shouldered diagonal buttress appears at ground level to the left, with a 9-light transomed and mullioned window to the right and two tripartite mullioned windows at first floor. To the left of the entrance, fenestration is irregular. A narrow gable to the left of the courtyard has a gablehead stack corbelled out at first floor. The wide, half-timbered gable to the right features a projecting shouldered stack and a 3-light canted oriel window at first floor, with transomed mullioned windows to its left return.

The west garden elevation comprises four bays. A 2-storey, 7-light canted bay window to the right has a crenellated parapet, followed by a similar 2-storey 6-light canted bay window. Above this is a half-timbered gablehead with swept eaves. The centre section has irregular fenestration, including a 3-light round-arched window at ground level to the left.

The south rear garden elevation spans five bays. A 2-storey, 6-light bay window with crenellated parapet occupies the left; a similar 7-light window stands at centre with a slightly advanced chimney stack adjoining to the right. Between these bay windows is a small verandah with a bracketed red-tiled roof. A half-timbered gable with a projecting chimney breast (stack missing) advances to the right. Fenestration to the left of the gable is fairly regular.

The east side elevation is irregularly fenestrated with half-timbering and features a gabled dormer at first floor to the left. A link-bay at ground level to the centre connects to a gabled, 2-storey rendered 1960s extension.

Windows are predominantly sash and case with plate-glass lower sashes and small-pane glazing to upper sashes, though some casement windows and leaded lights (notably on the entrance elevation) are present. The bell-cast red-tiled roof is finished with red ridge tiles. Chimney stacks are corniced, some set diagonally, topped with red clay cans.

The interior is notable for its carefully detailed spaces. The inner and outer entrance halls are divided by a panelled glazed screen with decorative plaster diamond to the frieze and beamed ceiling. A fairly plain timber staircase rises from the inner hall. The dining room features wainscot panelling, beamed ceiling, and timber chimneypiece. The drawing room contains a timber chimneypiece recessed in an arched inglenook supported on Doric columns, with a coved ceiling and a small stained-glass window depicting a sailing ship. The former billiard room has a large timber chimneypiece slightly recessed in an arch supported on Doric columns. The adjoining library features a corner timber chimneypiece, panelling to picture rail, some built-in bookshelves, and a beamed ceiling. Principal west- and south-facing bedrooms have coved ceilings. The principal bedroom in the south-west corner includes an inglenook fireplace with timber settee and built-in wardrobes and display cupboard. Tiled chimney pieces and built-in cupboards appear in some other bedrooms.

The ancillary buildings include a former laundry and wash house to the east of the house, with a parapet wall and ball finial to the north elevation, doors and bipartite windows with chamfered margins to the west, and a piended roof with central stack. An L-plan former stable and coach house stands nearby, featuring an advanced 2-storey gabled bay to the south with multi-light strip-windows, and a single-storey piend-roofed section to the north with a former hayloft entrance to the attic. The stable building has a red-tiled roof, though non-traditional uPVC windows have been installed.