Hillside Place And Timber Wee House, Glenshee Road, Braemar

This is a mid-19th century, single-storey and attic cottage with a related timber 'wee house' situated to the east. The cottage stands in the village of Braemar, within the Cairngorms National Park, and is located on Hillside Drive. It is one of the oldest properties in this part of the village, set amongst more modern development but retaining its traditional Highland cottage character and contributing to the streetscape due to its raised position.

The cottage is constructed from roughly coursed granite rubble. The symmetrical west-facing (principal) elevation features a central, two-leaf door within a timber gabled porch. Piended canted dormers illuminate the attic space. A modern extension and a cat slide dormer exist on the east-facing (rear) elevation. A piended, rustic verandah extends from the south gable. Timber four-pane sash and case windows are present throughout. The roof is covered in grey slate, with bracketed eaves and coped gable stacks.

The interior has been modernized, but the original room layout remains discernible with two rooms over two and a central stair aligned along the length of the cottage.

The later nineteenth-century timber 'wee house' stands parallel to the cottage to the east. It is a single-storey bothy, weatherboarded and featuring three doors and a single window to the west elevation. The roof is corrugated iron and there are no chimney stacks.

Hillside is one of a group of listed cottages in Braemar that demonstrate the distinctive character of simple, single-storey buildings with associated timber 'wee houses'. The cottage and 'wee house' appear as they stand on the Second Edition Ordnance Survey map and have remained significantly unaltered externally. These 'wee houses' are a distinctive feature of the locality, reflecting the historical development of the village, especially in relation to tourism. During the 19th century, Deeside was increasingly popular as a health resort, influenced by the beauty of the landscape, a perception reinforced by buildings designed to evoke an 'Alpine' character. This period saw an influx of tourists following the Royal Family's visits from the 1840s and the arrival of the railway to Ballater in the 1850s. In response to this, local residents constructed 'wee houses' to occupy during the summer months, allowing them to rent out their cottages to visitors. The cottage's construction exemplifies traditional methods and materials, using stone, timber, and slate.