Holland House, Papa Westray

West Storehouse and Bothy, Holland House, Papa Westray

This is a laird's house built between 1810 and 1814, with minor later additions and incorporating an earlier block to the north-west. The building forms a complex L-shaped plan, later expanded to an overall U-shape, with a courtyard wall to the north.

The main structure is two storeys with an attic, harled with ashlar dressings. The earlier north-west block is built of rubble. Crowstepped gables are a feature throughout. Architraved openings appear on the main east and west elevations of the main block and service wing.

The south (entrance) elevation presents a symmetrical three-bay main block to the right, with a central entrance bay featuring a later flat-roofed porch, a panelled timber door with rectangular fanlight to the right return, and a window above. Flanking windows occupy the ground and first floors. A single-storey service wing adjoins to the left with two windows to its right.

The east elevation shows a slightly projecting gabled bay to the left of the main block with windows to each floor including the attic. Set-back flanking windows occupy the ground and first floors, with a central ground-floor window. A single-storey lean-to addition with a window adjoins to the right, and a slightly projecting later lean-to extends further right.

The west elevation has a blank gable end of the service wing to the right. Two set-back windows occupy the attic of the main block's gable end. A later lean-to is attached to the rear of the service wing to the left, with an entrance featuring a late 20th-century panelled timber door and a narrow window. The earlier two-storey block projects to the left with a window (formerly an entrance) at the centre and a partially blocked window to the left. Two small boarded windows occupy the first floor, with another first-floor window to the right of the right return. A later lean-to adjoins the outer left with an entrance and plain timber door.

The north elevation shows the gable end of the main block to the left with an attic window. A single-storey lean-to addition projects at a lower level to the left, with a courtyard wall adjoining to the right. This wall has a lower-height section with a plain timber gate to the left. The lean-to continues across the gable end of the earlier two-storey block to the right, featuring an entrance with a plank door to the left return and a window with boarded timber shutter.

Within the courtyard, the west side contains the remains of a roofless single-storey lean-to to the right of the earlier block, with access to an entrance with a plank door. A ground-floor window sits to the left of the lean-to, and a concrete water tank on a rubble base projects to the left. The south side has a coursed rubble single-storey lean-to addition extending across most of the main block, with a tall narrow inserted or enlarged window set back to the left, rising through ground and first floors. The east side shows a small single-storey lean-to addition to the left of the main block with a front window, and a tall narrow inserted or enlarged window set back to the right, again rising through both ground and first floors. The north side features a retaining wall with a gateway to the right.

Windows are predominantly 12-pane timber sash-and-case type. Roofing comprises stone slate on the main ranges, stone flags on the lean-to to the north of the earlier block, and corrugated asbestos on two of the lean-tos. Gablehead stacks with band courses flank the wings at each end of the main block; a ridge stack with band course sits on the east wing. The single-storey service wing has a gablehead stack with band course surmounted by a tall harled extension. The earlier two-storey wing has gablehead stacks with band courses at either end, with round cans (missing from the earlier block).

The interior features a plain staircase with timber handrail, six-panel timber doors, and plain fireplace surrounds and cornices in the main rooms. The slightly earlier two-storey block has plank doors and stone-flagged ground floor.

Rubble boundary walls with rubble coping adjoin the house to the east and west. The eastern wall runs parallel to a pair of storehouses or bothies to the north-west, with a small gap adjacent to the house. The western wall curves around to the south-west, following the line of the road.