Garden Cottage, Balmoral Castle

Garden Cottage at Balmoral Castle was built in 1895 on the site of a smaller building that was erected in 1863. This picturesque cottage features a low gabled design and an approximately Z-plan layout, with two gabled ranges running north-south that interlock with a narrower gabled east-west link. It is a single storey with an attic, located to the south of Balmoral Castle, and has eaves that sweep down over a surrounding verandah. The exterior is made of harled concrete panels on a concrete base, possibly using shuttered concrete, and includes a moulded timber cill band and timber quoin strips. The verandah is supported by tree trunk timber columns with tie brackets, and the gables are encircled by the verandah, each featuring a small window at the gablehead. The cottage has two-leaf doors and is noted for its exceptional construction for its date.

On the north elevation, there is an advanced gabled bay to the right with a window, and a fanlit single door flanked by a window on the return to the left. There is also a single door flanked by windows, with two further windows in the recessed centre bays and a slightly advanced outer gabled bay with two windows.

The west elevation has three bays, with a slightly advanced bay at the centre containing doors. The outer bay to the right has doors and a later window set in the re-entrant angle with the centre bay, while the left bay features broader doors.

On the south elevation, there is an advanced gabled bay to the right with doors, and further doors on the return to the left. The centre and a slightly advanced bay to the left also have doors. There are two gabled dormers with pointed-arch windows in the centre.

The cottage features small-pane sash and case windows, two-leaf doors with panels, plate glass central sections, and multi-pane or louvred glass upper sections. Timber barge boards, grey-green slates, and lead flashings are also present. The granite stacks have tall, decorative barley-sugar cans. The verandah has a boarded soffit, and down pipes were originally housed within the tree trunk columns, with some remaining.