East Lodge (Head Gardener's Cottage), Balmoral Castle

East Lodge, also known as the Head Gardener's Cottage at Balmoral Castle, was built in 1859. It is a single-storey building with an attic and features three bays. The exterior is constructed from stugged, coursed granite with a base course, polished margins, and a corbel course that supports a slightly jettied first floor.

On the southwest elevation, there is a stone porch that projects at the center, featuring a pointed-arch doorway with two-leaf panelled doors. To the left of the porch is a pointed arch window. The elevation is topped with a parapet that has attenuated ball finials at the outer angles. To the right, there is an advanced gabled bay with a cross window at the ground level and a hoodmoulded tripartite window in the gablehead. The outer left bay has a cross window.

The northeast elevation includes a projecting, flat-roofed block on the right side, which has a former door that has been blocked and converted into a window at the center. There is a window flanking to the left and a narrow window to the right, along with a blind arrowslit to the outer left and a door with a letterbox fanlight to the outer right. The left side features a gabled bay with a cross window at the ground level and in the gablehead.

On the southeast elevation, there is a slightly advanced gabled bay at the center that has a tripartite window at the ground level and a cross window in the gablehead.

The northwest elevation features a raised chimney breast at the center, flanked by glazed arrowslit windows at both the ground level and in the gablehead. There is an advanced return of a flat-roofed rear projection, which is blank and has three blind gunloops and a parapet.

The windows are fitted with timber mullions and transoms, featuring sash and case designs with large square-pane glazing. The roof is covered with graded grey slates, and the gables are crowstepped with bracketed skewputts, coped gableheads, and ridge stacks, topped with lead.