Derclach, 24 Racecourse Road, Ayr

Derclach is a villa dated 1892-3, designed by James A Morris and situated on a corner site at 24 Racecourse Road in Ayr. The building is two storeys and has an asymmetrical plan with four bays. It is constructed of ashlar, with some areas of squared and stugged sandstone and painted harl.

The south-east elevation, facing Racecourse Road, has a re-entrant angle entrance to the penultimate recessed bay on the right. The entrance features a two-leaf timber door, a small-paned fanlight, and decorative consoles supporting a segmental cornice. A single window is positioned above the door at the first floor. The main face of the bay window to the advanced, gabled bay on the right incorporates bipartite windows at ground and first floor levels, with single windows to the canted sides. Single balusters flank the gable. Bipartite windows are also found at ground and first floor levels of the penultimate gabled bay to the left, and a single window at first floor level breaks the eaves to form a segmental gablet.

The south-west elevation, facing Wheatfield Road, features a single window at ground floor to a recessed bay on the outer right. Two narrow single windows are found to the penultimate bay to the right. A canted tripartite window at ground floor has single windows to the canted sides, and a tripartite window at first floor level with a corniced hoodmould and a raised motif at the centre. A single window at ground floor is paired with a bipartite window at the first floor of a harled section to the left, where another bipartite window forms a segmental-headed gablet breaking the eaves. A single window to the right at first floor is accompanied by two single windows to a single-storey section to the left. Bipartite windows and two single windows are situated at the ground floor of the re-entrant angle, with a single window to the left at the first floor, which breaks the eaves to form a segmental-headed gablet.

The north-west elevation has a two-bay block to the right, with irregular fenestration on the ground floor, and a single window at first floor that breaks the eaves with a segmental-headed gablet. A harled gabled bay projects to the left, featuring a ground-floor window to the return elevation and a bipartite window above, breaking the eaves with another segmental-headed gablet. A flanking window is also visible.

The north-east elevation is two bays wide. The bay to the left is blank, while the bay to the right has a canted window extending through the ground and first floors, topped with a balustraded parapet that breaks the eaves of the flanking bay. A harled addition with irregular fenestration adjoins the outer right.

The windows are predominantly timber sash and case, with four- and six-pane upper sashes. A slate roof is present, along with stone skews, a corniced wallhead, and pitch stacks topped with circular cans. Cast-iron rainwater goods are also incorporated.

The interior was not inspected in 1999.

Externally, a sundial stands on a circular baluster support to the south-east of the house, featuring a metal dial-plate. Conical stone gatepiers mark the entrance to Racecourse Road, accompanied by a two-leaf timber gate, while a single timber gate serves the Wheatfield Road elevation. A coped sandstone wall encloses the site.