Tweedhill

Tweedhill House is a mid to later 19th century villa, possibly incorporating late 18th century fabric with later alterations. It is a 2-storey, 5-bay near T-plan villa with classical details and various additions at the rear. The building is constructed of coursed and tooled pink sandstone with rubble at the rear and ashlar dressings. It features a base course, raised cill courses, and eaves course beneath oversailing timber bracketed eaves, narrow quoin strips, plain margins at ground with bracketed cills and consoled cornices, and segmental-arched, shouldered architraves at first floor with bracketed cills. A single storey, octagonal-plan ancillary structure stands to the south.

The south (entrance) elevation comprises a 4-bay principal range with a flat-roofed classical porch projecting at ground to the outer right. The porch comprises Ionic columns flanking the entrance, a square-plan pillar to the left, an engaged pilaster to the right, a plain frieze and cornice, and a parapet. A 2-leaf glazed timber door with a 2-pane fanlight and narrow side-lights is set within. Single windows are found at ground in the remaining three bays to the left, with a mounting stone beneath the opening in the penultimate bay to the outer left. Single windows are present in all bays at first floor. A 2-storey piended projection to the outer right has single windows centred at both floors.

The east (side) elevation shows a 3-bay principal block with a slightly advanced central bay, featuring a tripartite doorway (French doors) at ground inserted in 2001, and a single window above. Tripartite windows with narrow side-lights flank at ground, with single windows aligned above. A single storey, 2-bay wing adjoins to the outer right with gabled sandstone dormerheads to single windows in both bays.

The north (rear) elevation comprises a 2-storey block to the outer left with a modern garage door centred in a single storey projection at ground. A single bay wing is recessed to the right with bipartite windows centred at both floors. A 2-bay wing is recessed further to the right with squat windows at ground and single windows at first floor, with a single window centred in a single storey addition in the re-entrant angle to the left. A 3-bay wing to the outer right has single windows at ground and two single windows at first floor.

The west (side) elevation is blank to the projecting principal range. A 2-storey block recessed to the outer right has a flat-roofed porch in the re-entrant angle to the left. A 2-storey block recessed to the left has various additions in the re-entrant angle to the right. A single storey addition adjoins to the outer left.

Windows throughout comprise plate glass with 6- and 8-pane glazing in timber sash and case windows, with some casement glazing to the front and side. The roofs are covered in purple slate with piended profiles. Corniced cream sandstone ashlar ridge and wallhead stacks with decorative consoles are present, along with various other stacks.

The interior retains late 19th century fixed decorative schemes in place with alterations made in 2001. An arched vestibule opens from the entrance, with panelled doors, skirting boards, and timber panelled shutters. Some decorative plaster cornices remain; the remainder are plain. Marble fireplaces are present in the ground floor reception rooms. The stair features balustered uprights, a square-plan newel, and a timber handrail. Various alterations have been made to the original plan with the addition of openings between rooms; the service stair has been removed and the former kitchen was converted to a garage in the late 20th century.

The ancillary structure, a former pump house, is single storey and octagonal in plan, constructed of rubble. It has a boarded timber door and a single window opening at the rear. The roof is covered in platformed grey slate. The interior has rubble walls and a boarded timber ceiling.

Both Tweedhill and the nearby Spital House are noted in the New Statistical Account as 'neat country residences'. However, the existing Tweedhill House appears to date from the mid to later 19th century, suggesting that the house present in 1834 was replaced. It is a well-detailed, prominently sited villa overlooking the River Tweed. Nearby associated structures include the stables formerly linked to the house (now separately owned and converted to a private residence), the walled garden (also separately owned with a modern house erected within it), and the main entrance comprising boundary wall, quadrant walls, piers and gatepiers to the north-west (still associated with the main house). A gate lodge, also still associated with the house, dates from the late 20th century and is built on the site of the original structure. James Macbraire, Esq is noted as the owner of Tweedhill in 1866 in Rutherfurd's Southern Counties' Register and Directory.