West Pavilion, Cluny Castle

West Pavilion, Cluny Castle

This south-facing symmetrical mansion was designed in the Adamesque style by Robert Burn of Edinburgh and built in 1805, with a north-west wing and front porch added around 1890 by W L Carruthers of Inverness. The building is a two-storey structure with an attic storey, raised over a basement, featuring a rear courtyard flanked by single-storey wings projecting at right angles. A set-back two-storey four-bay later addition extends to the north-west.

The principal frontage displays Adamesque character across three bays with shallow bowed three-window bays flanking the centre, rising the full height of the facade. The returns have matching three-bay elevations. The frontage is executed in tooled grey granite ashlar with similar dressings, whilst the flanks and rear are pinned rubble. The basement is rubble, rendered and lined.

A glazed timber porch with a crest set in a semi-circular pediment, dating to around 1890, masks the centre doorway and is reached by a splayed flight of steps that oversail the raised basement. The entrance is flanked by simple Venetian windows set in arched panels, with tripartite windows to the first floor. Ground and first-floor cill bands encircle the building.

The centre bay is delineated by giant pilasters rising from moulded red sandstone plinths with matching Ionic capitals. Unusually, there is no entablature; instead, plain blocks return under the cornice. Piended dormers are set into the roofline. The moulded eaves cornice supports a crenellated wallhead with small angle dummy bartizans. The piended platform slate roof carries four symmetrical corniced stacks. The five-bay rear elevation has some altered fenestration.

The north-west wing, added around 1890, is set back and comprises two storeys with regular four-bay fenestration. It has a shaped front centre wallhead stack and a centre rear gable with apex stack, topped by a piended slate roof. Sash windows with multi-pane glazing light the main mansion, whilst the north-west wing has two-pane sash windows.

The rear courtyard is flanked by single-storey wings. The eastern wing has some modern fenestration, whilst the western wing has been altered to provide stores and garages. The courtyard is closed to the north by a low wall with a centre entrance flanked by square tooled ashlar gate piers. A centre well with an ornamental stone cover raised on columns stands in the courtyard.

The entrance hall features a wide space with a coffered vaulted ceiling incorporating a central pendant. The dado is reeded and panelled with panelled doors displaying oval detailing. Similar detailing appears on window shutters in the south-east drawing room, which has a beaded panelled dado and a fine mahogany door, re-used from elsewhere, with decorative beading. A carved wood chimneypiece, also re-used from elsewhere, is installed in this room.

The south-west room, formerly the dining room, retains a reeded and panelled dado and panelled window shutters. An inlaid serving table or buffet recess is flanked by engaged Corinthian columns. The mahogany door matches that in the drawing room, and decorative plaster ceiling friezes embellish both public rooms. Two four-centred arches supported by fluted Corinthian columns and outer pilasters screen the stairwell. The staircase features ornate cast-iron balusters with a polished wooden handrail.

Decorative chimneypieces appear throughout the interior, including an inlaid marble piece with basket grate in the first-floor bedroom. Panelled window shutters appear on both ground and first floors. The north-west wing houses what was formerly a billiard room, now used as a dining room.

The house was built by Cluny MacPherson of Cluny to replace the castle destroyed by fire in 1746, following his support for Prince Charles Edward. The building is notable for its sophisticated joinery in panelling, doors and shutters, likely executed by Aberdeenshire joiners whose characteristic detailing and decoration are evident throughout. Andrew Carnegie leased the house before purchasing Skibo Castle in Sutherland. The north-west wing does not appear on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1870. The present drawing room chimneypiece and hearth replaces a former marble chimneypiece and basket grate.