Kirkhouse

Kirkhouse

A substantial former farmhouse built in 1867 for the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry, possibly incorporating an earlier house in part. The main building is of 1½ to 2 storeys with a 3-bay asymmetric plan, accompanied by a single-storey, 3-bay rectangular service wing to the northwest and an earlier L-plan house and wing to the southwest. A 20th-century single-storey addition has been made to the rear.

The main elevations are constructed of droved sandstone ashlar with coursed whinstone rubble to the other elevations and sandstone dressings to windows and doors. Stone pedimented attic dormers feature overlapping skews, stone roll-finals and projecting bell-cast moulded putts. The principal southeast elevation displays an ashlar entrance at its centre with roll-moulded arrises, a timber-panelled entrance door leading to a multi-paned glazed inner door, and a plain envelope fanlight. A segmental pediment with an inset date stone of 1867 surmounts the entrance on scroll brackets. To the right is a plain single window. Attic dormers aligned with the ground floor bays sit above. An advanced gable end to the left features a tripartite stone-mullioned window to the ground floor and a single window to the upper storey, rising into a gablehead.

The southwest elevation presents a T-plan arrangement with an advanced gable end at its centre. Single windows flank this to both storeys. A single-storey outbuilding, probably formerly a stable, adjoins to the ground floor left and extends along the left return with a door and window. The right return of the main gable comprises 2 bays at both storeys with wallhead dormers to the upper storey. A lean-to glass house in the re-entrant angle partially obscures the ground floor right window. Paired dormers sit above to the upper level right. To the left of the central advanced gable stands a blind rear wing with a gabled dormer to its upper right.

The northwest rear elevation shows an advanced gabled end of the later extension to the left with an advanced gable of the service wing to the right. A recessed central section forms a regularly fenestrated courtyard.

The northeast elevation features an advanced gabled end to the left with a projecting bay window to the ground floor. This comprises a bipartite window to the front and single windows to the sides, with a moulded parapet concealing a flat roof. A central window rises to the first floor. Two bays to the right contain a small window to the ground floor centre with an elongated staircase window directly above, and to the right a single window with a stone pedimented attic dormer aligned and breaking the wallhead. A much later single-storey, 3-bay extension adjoins to the right with larger windows to the outer bays and a smaller central window.

Windows vary throughout and include 12-pane glazing in timber sash-and-case windows to the southwest elevations and northwest single-storey extension, and plate glass with 4-pane and 6-pane glazing (to the staircase) in timber sash-and-case windows to the main house on the northeast. The pitched graded slate roof features lead roll-riding, flashing and valleys. Painted cast-iron rainwater goods are fitted throughout. Tall ashlar roofline stacks with moulded neck copes and plain terracotta cans rise from the roof.

The interior retains its original room plan with 2 original staircases in place, complete with timber handrails. A marble fireplace graces the drawing room, and a number of surviving later 19th-century grates are fitted to the bedrooms. Steel picture rods hang in the reception room, and wiring for butler's bells survives in the attic. Most original timber work remains, including flooring, shutters, skirting boards and doors. Some stone-flagged floors are present, with a cobbled floor to the former stable. A 20-foot-high fire hydrant with woven canvas hoses stands near the back stairs.

The lodge, also built in 1867, is a 1½-storey asymmetric picturesque-style building with a modern rear extension. Its main elevations are of rock-faced ashlar with whinstone rubble to the rear. The northeast principal elevation displays an advanced gabled entrance porch at its centre with a moulded shouldered door surround inscribed with the 1867 date. A later boarded entrance door now closes this opening. The porch features a steeply pitched roof with overhanging eaves and exposed timber purlins. A narrow window lights the porch returns. To the flanks sit tripartite windows, with a gabled storey rising above the left and a small diamond-quarry window to the gablehead. Regularly fenestrated gabled ends face southeast and northwest. The rear elevation has been much altered.

The lodge's windows are mostly later timber casements, though small square casements with diamond quarries survive to the upper storey. The pitched slate roof has overhanging eaves and exposed timber purlins and rafters. A piended slate roof covers the rear extension. Lead ridging, flashing and valleys complete the roofing. A tall ashlar roofline stack with a moulded neck cope and 3 plain cans crowns the building. Painted cast-iron rainwater goods are fitted.

A pair of tall hexagonal ashlar gatepiers with advanced base courses and moulded hexagonal caps stand at the entrance. Small sections of whinstone rubble walling flank them.