Gate Lodge, Balmoral Castle

The Gate Lodge at Balmoral Castle, likely designed by William Smith in 1858, is a single-storey and attic T-plan lodge with additional single-storey projections. It is situated on a bend in the road by the entrance gates, which are listed separately. The lodge features Scottish 17th century and Tudor architectural details, constructed from stugged granite with a base course and a corbel course at the jettied gableheads. The gables are crowstepped, and the building has chamfered arrises, timber mullions, and transoms.

On the northeast elevation, there is a gabled section at the center with a tripartite window set in an advanced corbelled panel topped with a stone piended roof. Above, a square cross window in the gablehead features a hoodmould. To the right, an arcaded loggia with four-centred arches spans three bays in the re-entrant angle, topped with a gablet and a stepped parapet that rises to a tablet over the center arch. A two-leaf panelled door is located by the re-entrant angle. There is also a gabled projection on the outer left, which includes a window to the northeast and a door and window leading to a service porch with a piend roof.

The northwest elevation has a gabled section at the center with a canted stone window at ground level, which is lead-roofed, along with a square hoodmoulded cross window above in the attic, featuring a fleur-de-lys finial. To the left, there is a return elevation of the arcaded loggia with timber infill. To the right, a single-storey bay rises as a screen with a corbelled parapet and two narrow small-pane windows that shield a lean-to porch behind.

On the southeast elevation, gabled and piended projections are found to the right. A cross window is located to the left, with a corbelled stone attic window above that breaks the eaves in a crowstepped dormer, topped with a shield panel.

The lodge features sash and case windows, is roofed with graded grey slates, and has gablehead stacks and bracketed skewputts. A cast-iron pedestrian gate is located at the rear. The northeast elevation is flanked to the north and south by granite quadrant walls with saddleback coping.