Druidsmere House, Carsie

Druidsmere House, Carsie

Druidsmere House is an idiosyncratic neo-medieval mansion designed by Andrew Heiton and dated 1885. It is a substantial 3-storey house with attic and a rectangular plan dominated by a baronial tower house form. The principal block features bold circular 4-storey angle towers with steeply battered walls at ground floor level, slightly corbelled 4th floors, and slated conical roofs topped with cast-iron finials. A long, low 2-storey wing extends along the north-west elevation and projects at the north-east. The building is constructed in red bull-faced sandstone rubble beneath grey slated pavilion roofs.

The fenestration comprises rectangular windows with timber mullioned and transomed frames. At the 2nd floor (bedroom level), the upper panes are leaded with a small square grid pattern. The most striking external feature is an elaborate cantilevered cast-iron balcony by McDowell Steven & Co, which runs across the 1st, 2nd and attic levels of the garden (south-west) elevation. The balcony rail features quatrefoil detailing at its base and traceried arcading above, supported on barley sugar colonettes with capitals and finely cast brackets, beneath a decorated frieze and cornice. This balcony was subsequently heightened to 2nd floor level with later, more basic iron construction. The house displays characteristic neo-medieval timber bargeboarded dormers throughout, and tall wallhead stacks rise prominently at multiple points.

On the south-east (entrance) elevation, a 2-bay main block sits between the towers, with a low ancillary wing recessed far behind to the right. The entrance is located in a concealed re-entrant angle within the projecting 4-storey square-plan tower at the right. The doorcase is detailed with bolection moulding in ashlar and bears a neo-medieval inscription in raised lettering at the lintel reading "be just and joyous do none injury". The door itself is vertically ribbed timber with elaborate brass fittings including a decorative bell-pull. An asymmetrical chimney breast in the recess between the two bays rises above the eaves as a tall wallhead stack.

The south-west (garden) elevation is symmetrical, presenting 4 bays between the flanking angle towers. The north-west elevation is largely masked below by the ancillary wing running the entire length of the house and extending beyond at the north-east for 2 bays. This wing is 2-storey with asymmetrical bays; the ground floor elevation follows the battering visible on the corner towers of the main house, with vertically barred ground floor windows and bargeboarded dormer-headed windows above, surmounted by a tall wallhead stack rising from 1st floor level.

The ancillary block to the left presents an L-plan front with a pair of wide segmental-arched openings in a recessed bay, originally forming an open corridor but later glazed with timber screens as infill. A door sits to the right in an advanced bay, beneath a tripartite dormer-headed window featuring cusped bargeboards. The north-east elevation displays the asymmetrical end of the ancillary wing, with a corbelled bartizan turret at the angle. Above this, the plain elevation of the main house includes a tripartite mullioned and transomed stair window set off-centre.

The interior is arranged with service accommodation at ground floor level, principal rooms at 1st floor, and bedrooms and attic rooms at 2nd floor. A significant portion of the original decorative scheme survives. The house features vertically boarded pine panelling throughout, with fielded panelling in the circular turret spaces. Several bedrooms retain full-height fitted pine wardrobes with brass fittings. The chimneypieces are particularly varied, including a small simple timber example with 3 inset round painted enamel discs at frieze level; another with 4 inset Delftware tiles at frieze, Delftware tiled reveals and a decorative cast-iron grate; an Art Nouveau style example with elongated narrow consoles and a plain frieze (white painted timber, circa 1905); and a mahogany chimneypiece featuring a single-piece overmnatel mirror at centre with carved panel insets. The standard type throughout is plain timber (painted and unpainted) with chunky cusped console brackets below the lintel.

The entrance hall features an arcaded screen leading to a dog-leg stair of timber construction, half-panelled at the lower section of the rail with timber balusters at the upper section and carved finials. The kitchen contains a wide neo-medieval fireplace with a stone relieving arch and tiled floor. The billiard room on the attic floor is particularly notable, with a mock barrel vaulted ceiling decorated with thin ribs and a centre arched brace featuring cusped cut-out detailing. The original wallpaper at dado level may be contemporary with the building. The timber chimneypiece has pilastered consoles and decorative cast-iron splayed reveals and grate; the overmantel was replaced in 1991.

The building was known as White Loch Guest House in 1991.