Moncrieffe House

Sir William Kininmonth, 1962, incorporating 1679 doorpiece. 2-storey and basement, 7-bay, rectangular-plan neo-Georgian country house built to evoke 1679 Classical house destroyed by fire 1957, prominently-sited in designed landscape at foot of Moncreiffe Hill. Harled with contrasting raised ashlar margins, quoin strips, deep base course and flat-coped blocking course; recessed aprons to ground floor windows. Doorpiece of fine channelled ashlar, basket-arched with fluted pilasters, frieze dated 1679, heavy broken apex pediment with relief-carved arms of Thomas Moncreiffe and Bethia Hamilton (see Notes) and swagged ball finial. Conical-roofed bowed stair tower at rear.

FURTHER DESCRIPTION: principal S elevation incorporates slightly recessed, tall, pavilion-roofed centre bay with 2-leaf panelled timber door in ashlar doorpiece with single window and relief carved panel above. Regular fenestration to flanking bays (ground floor windows taller), shallow plain recessed panels over window bays at wallhead. Modern timber conservatory adjoining screen wall at outer left. Rear (N) elevation with glazed door below large stair window in bowed centre bay. Harled rubble walls and ancillary buildings at E.

Multi-pane glazing patterns in timber sash and case windows and French doors. Piended slate roofs with 2 solar panels added circa 1980 to S. Coped harled stacks.

INTERIOR: well-detailed interior incorporates simple plasterwork cornices and panels, architraved doorways with 6-panelled timber doors and brass door furniture, fireplaces throughout. Screen door leads to fine stairhall with side doors in arched recesses, fireplace and imposing cantilevered staircase with scrolled ironwork balustrade and timber handrail following curve of stair tower. Drawing room to E with arched niches flanking centre fireplace, and vaulted-effect suspended ceiling. Dining room to W appearing as oval-plan with concave-curved inner wall and curved suspended ceilings. Smaller room to NE with vaulted ceiling (see Notes).

WALLS, ANCILLARY BUILDINGS AND GATEPIERS: harled rubble walls, ancillary buildings and large flat-coped square-section ashlar gatepiers with timber gates to NW.