Engineer's House With Gate Piers And Garden Walls, Buxley, Manderston House

This is an engineer’s house, constructed in 1897 in the Scottish 17th century style, and located at Manderston House, Buxley. The house abuts an earlier court. The lower portion of the building is constructed from tall square rubble sandstone, with the upper walls harled and featuring ashlar dressings. Chamfered arrises, buckle-quoin detailing, and an eaves course are notable features.

The west elevation has three bays, with a two-stage polygonal corner tower on the outer right. A roll-moulded door surround, featuring a carved fleur-de-lys above the lintel, is centrally positioned, with a boarded door. Large windows are placed on each floor in the flanking bays, with the first-floor windows breaking the eaves. These first-floor windows are flanked by pilasters that support pedimented dormerheads with strapwork detailing, possibly inspired by Heriot’s Hospital or Glasgow College.

The polygonal corner tower is constructed of ashlar, divided by a cornice, and set within the re-entrant angle formed with the earlier court, resembling a 17th-century stair tower. A narrow window is set into the northwest facet at ground level, with an armorial panel bearing the Miller crest above at eaves level. The southeast facet displays a pedimented narrow window at the first floor, a nailhead eaves course, a cornice, and a polygonal, ogee roof topped with a lead ball finial.

The east elevation, facing the farm court, has three bays and an advanced gable to the left. A roll-moulded door surround with the date 1897 carved above is centrally positioned, above which is a large stair window. A stairhead breaks the eaves in a gabled dormer with a curvilinear gablehead and a small pedimented window featuring a carved fleur-de-lys as an apron. A large window is located in the bay to the right at ground level. The advanced bay to the left has a right-angle chamfer at ground level, with a small window, a square corebleed above, and windows on each floor of the gable. The first-floor window is topped with a strapwork pediment.

The north elevation features a blind gable facing the driveway, with a large, uncarved high-relief panel set within a moulded surround in the gablehead.

The south elevation displays a tower on the outer left, clasping a slightly advanced gable that breaks the eaves at centre. At ground level, it is abutted by lean-to implement sheds belonging to the farm court.

The windows are timber sash and case, with small panes, the upper sashes being larger in principle windows. The roof is covered in grey-green slates. Ashlar coped skews with roll-moulded skewputts are present, as are ashlar gablehead stacks with cornices and battered coping, and ashlar ridges. Decorative lead rainwater hoppers and square downpipes are also present.

Corner spurs protect the building onto the drive and farm court.

The interior was not inspected in 1995.

A pair of ashlar gate piers flank the driveway to the northwest, corniced with large pyramidal finials on ball feet and incorporating spurs. Curved garden walls enclose the front garden to the west of the house, consisting of a dwarf wall with wide stone piers at intervals, a sawtooth coped top on the outer side, and wrought-iron railings, possibly designed by Thomas Hadden, in between. The wall continues to base course height to the north, incorporating a pedestrian gate.