Murray House, Main Street, Gartmore

Murray House is a traditional two-storey, three-bay house built in 1745. It is situated directly on Main Street in Gartmore, a planned village laid out in the 18th century by Nicol Graham of Gartmore House and his descendants. The land was feued by the Grahams of Gartmore House in 1725. The house groups well with neighbouring Thorn Cottage and contributes to the character of the streetscape, demonstrating historical value. Murray House is one of the few originally conceived as a two-storey dwelling, a feature also found at Ardvulan (also listed), and represents a well-preserved example of the village’s architecture. It was formerly the home of Edward Dwelly (1865-1939), author of the first Gaelic-English dictionary.

The symmetrical principal (southeast) elevation features a central gabled timber porch with a cast-iron finial, flanked by single windows. The house is attached to Buchanan Cottage to the southwest (not listed, 2004) and Thorn Cottage to the northeast (see separate list description). A single-storey former byre is attached to the right (southeast), now converted into domestic accommodation, with a 20th-century timber and glass conservatory beyond. Former byres were once common features in Gartmore. The rear elevation includes 20th-century French windows to the left, a modern glazed door centrally, and a small window above the bathroom on the first floor. Two boarded timber doors provide access from the garden to the former byre.

The interior retains the original plan, with a single room on either side of a central circular wheel staircase. The kitchen preserves tongue and groove panelling and a boarded timber ceiling, while the sitting room exhibits exposed roof beams. The circular wheel staircase is set within a circular stone well and features shallow timber treads. Interior doors are timber panelled, and several 18th and 19th-century fireplaces remain in ground and first-floor rooms. The house has thick walls.

The exterior is whitewashed, with margins to the openings. Windows are predominantly four-pane timber sash and case, with a single rooflight to the former byre. A boarded timber door leads to the porch, with a modern half-glazed two-leaf inner door. The roof is covered with concrete tiles, with graded grey slates on the porch and former byre at the rear. The pitched roof has rendered coped gable-head stacks with some yellow clay cans. Timber bargeboards are present on the northeast gable of the house, porch, and former byre. Some cast iron rainwater goods are also visible.