Kenilworth House, 51 Blairhill Street, Coatbridge

Kenilworth House is a late 19th-century Old English style house, built around 1898 by Alex McGregor Mitchell. Originally a private residence, it was converted into a residential home in 1952 for the Coatbridge Welfare Services Department. The building is two storeys and an attic, with three bays, and features single-storey projections; it has an asymmetrical plan.

The exterior is primarily red brick with mock half-timbering to the gableheads. A base course defines the ground level, and a cornice separates the floors. Crenellated parapets top the building. Brick mullions and stone transoms are visible.

The east elevation has an advanced gabled porch to the right of centre, featuring a canted timber oriel window supported by brackets. A two-leaf panel door is on the left return, with a border-glazed fanlight above. A keystoned oculus is on the right return. A tripartite window is to the immediate right of the entrance, and has ogee moulding to the window heads. Above the porch is a tripartite window at the first floor level, with a three-light dormer window above. To the left, in a pentice-roofed projection, are paired stone tripartite windows at ground level, and an advanced tripartite window with a parapet above. A single window is set into the attic. A canted five-light window is present, with a tripartite window above and a four-light timber window in a jettied gablehead, accentuated by decorative brackets.

The south elevation has a single-storey, gambrel-roofed former billiard room projecting at ground level, with bipartite windows on each face and a door on the west elevation. A rendered frieze runs along the wallhead, supported by decorative brackets. A modern ramp provides access. Behind the projection are two-storey bays framed by tall, shouldered wallhead stacks, and a moulded domerhead to a first-floor window off-centre to the right.

The west elevation is irregular and includes a gabled, single-storey service projection at ground level.

The north elevation displays a gable to the right, with a single-storey porch attached at ground level. A canted ingleneuk is at ground level to the left, with an oculus above.

Some original windows remain, featuring timber sash and case construction with small-pane, border-glazed upper sashes and plate glass lower sashes. Some of these survive as hoppers and casements. Lead-pane glazing is found in the window to the right of the entrance porch. Patterned and coloured glass has been applied internally to the oriel and the window to the left of the porch. Later windows are found on the sides and rear. The roof is covered in grey slates with decorative ridge tiles. Timber barge boards feature occasional fretted detailing. The building has red brick wallhead stacks topped with red cans. A decorative wrought-iron balustrade is by the main entrance, along with a modern ramp.

The interior was not inspected during a 1999 survey.