Daisy Bank, Braemar

Daisy Bank is a later 19th-century single-storey cottage with attic, comprising three bays and adjoined to its north gable by a timber 'wee house'. The main cottage is harled with a symmetrical east-facing principal elevation featuring a central four-leaf panelled door with stained glass upper panels and a rectangular light above inscribed 'DAISY BANK', topped by a dentilled cornice. The attic storey is lit by a pair of piended and canted dormers to the front, with a cat slide dormer to the west rear elevation and a later lean-to addition to its left. The building is fenestrated with timber four-pane sash and case windows and roof lights to front and rear, beneath a slate roof with gable stacks.

The interior is a remarkable survival of a barely altered cottage layout, comprising two rooms over two with a central staircase aligned with the length of the building. The kitchen retains an alcove, probably for a box bed, and notably preserves bell pushes throughout the cottage and a bell box in the kitchen—evidence of domestic service during its operation as a holiday let.

The adjoining timber 'wee house' was added circa 1890 to the north gable. It is a single-storey, four-bay structure finished in flush weatherboarding, with its principal east elevation displaying an off-centre door to the left and flanking timber sash and case windows with a further window to the right. The west elevation has three doors and a window, whilst the south elevation contains a single door and small window. It is roofed with corrugated iron and has a central brick stack. The interior retains all original internal panelling and the range in situ. An adjoining wash house to the south contains original sinks and a late 19th-century cast iron washing tub, inscribed 'FALKIRK' with panels of animal heads, cast by John Hardy's Falkirk Ironworks.

Daisy Bank represents the best surviving intact example of Braemar's distinctive traditional cottages with associated timber 'wee houses'. This building type is of particular significance to Braemar as evidence of the village's mid to late 19th-century tourist-based development. The survival of both cottage and wee house in intact condition, adjoined rather than separated, makes Daisy Bank unique—other examples of adjoined wee houses have been lost. The building demonstrates traditional construction methods and makes use of the region's characteristic materials: granite, timber, and slate. The dentilled cornice to the front door is a feature shared with several other properties in the village.

The presence of the timber 'wee house' is a particularly unusual survival in the locality and reflects the village's historical development through tourism. In the 19th century, Deeside became increasingly fashionable as a health resort, and its landscape drew comparisons with Switzerland, enhanced by the 'Alpine' character of some buildings. Following the Royal Family's visits to the area from the 1840s and the arrival of the Railway in the 1850s, tourist numbers and spending power increased significantly. In response, Braemar residents built 'wee houses' in their gardens where they could live during summer while letting their main cottages to visitors. The bell pushes and bell box at Daisy Bank provide further evidence of this arrangement, indicating that domestic service was integral to the lives of past residents during the lettings. Unlike other surviving examples in the village, which have either been modernised or had important features removed, Daisy Bank and its adjoined wee house have survived with little or no alteration, retaining internal panelling, range, and washhouse features in original condition.