Inverchapel Lodge Including Boundary Walls And Garden Walls, Loch Eck

Inverchapel Lodge is a fishing lodge dating to the 1920s, and was the residence of Lord Inverchapel, a prominent diplomat. The lodge is set amongst trees to the east of the Loch Eck road, with a formal garden to the south. It consists of a main, three-bay, single-storey block with a piend roof and dormers, featuring a prominent stepped central chimney. Connected to this is a single-storey, L-shaped range added in 1923.

The original lodge was constructed between 1921 and 1922, designed by Gerald Wellesley and published in a book on smaller houses in 1924. Initially intended as accommodation for two or three fishermen and a couple of servants, the original rectangular block contained two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a living room on the ground floor, and three bedrooms in the dormer storey. The chimneystack is central, but the fireplaces are offset, resulting in a complex flue system. The front (north) elevation has three bays, with a central, pedimented doorway surmounted by a decorative semicircular fanlight.

The initial accommodation proved insufficient, and in 1923 a servants’ wing containing three bedrooms was added to the northeast corner, matching the style of the original house, joined by an outhouse. It is likely that around this time the main entrance was moved from the west elevation to its current position on the north elevation. In 1925, Wellesley published plans for a further expansion, which would have tripled the length of the west elevation and added a Dutch gable over a classical entrance. These plans were intended to compensate for earlier, abandoned designs for a grander house further south along the loch and were never carried out.

Internal alterations were made throughout the 20th century, including the relocation of the staircase and other changes to the interior layout. The building’s exterior is a mix of harled brick and sandstone ashlar dressings, with a grey slate roof featuring clay ridges and slated dormer cheeks. Timber sash and case windows with multiple panes are used on the ground floor, while the dormers have casement windows.

A high brick wall runs along the road. Remains of the original formal garden include steps, retaining walls and a wrought iron gate.