Dankeith House, Dankeith Leisure Centre, Dundonald

Dankeith House, located at Dankeith Leisure Centre in Dundonald, has a core dating from the late 18th century but is predominantly a 19th-century structure. It was extended in the early to mid-19th century, with further extensions in the 1880s, 1893-1894, and 1909 by Allan Stevenson. After suffering fire damage in 1930, alterations and additions were made by James Miller. This large, asymmetrical mansion features turreted and castellated Tudor architecture, standing two to three stories tall with eight bays on the principal entrance elevation facing southeast, which includes polygonal corner turrets. The exterior is constructed of sandstone ashlar with rubble at the rear, featuring a deep base course, a band course, and a corbelled blocking course. It has hoodmoulds, raised cills, and moulded architraves, along with Tudor-arched ground floor window openings. The design includes some canted bay windows and bi-partite and tri-partite windows with stone mullions and transoms, as well as small, flat-roofed dormers. The southwest elevation boasts a decorative cast iron imperial stair leading to the garden, designed by James Allan and Son. The corners at the rear are accentuated with raised ashlar quoins.

On the principal elevation to the southwest, there is an off-centre advanced three-stage entrance tower that breaks the eaves to the right. This tower features an advanced castellated entrance porch, dated 1893, with a Gothic-arched doorway that includes a two-leaf boarded timber door and an additional turret in the re-entrant angle. Above the entrance is an oriel window, and to the far right is a polygonal corner turret. The outer left side has three advanced bays with a three-storey corner turret at the far left.

The windows are predominantly plate glass timber sash and case types. The roof is covered with grey slates, and the building has cast iron rainwater goods, along with ridge and gable stacks that feature polygonal stone stacks.

The interior, as seen in 2009, retains many public rooms. The entrance vestibule is finished with timber panelling and panelled timber doors that have decorative carved doorpieces. Stairs lead to a hall that features a decorative timber screen with round-arched arcading. There is a dog-leg staircase with a decorative timber handrail, balusters, and newels. A further timber screen is present at the first-floor landing. One of the public rooms has a decoratively carved timber fire surround, while other rooms feature simple moulded fire surrounds. Some areas have decorative plaster cornicing and simple strapwork in the public rooms.