Grotto, Woodlands

Woodlands is a two-storey, three-bay villa built in the mid to later 19th century. It occupies an elevated, isolated position overlooking Loch Goil. The property is broadly rectangular, with a small rear extension, typical of Lochgoilhead villas. A single-storey lean-to addition to the north-east elevation was added in the 20th century.

The villa’s architectural features are noteworthy, particularly the first-floor cast-iron balcony and the detailed bracketed eaves. The balcony is constructed of cast-iron panels with decorative spandrels, supported by simple timber posts. French doors provide access to the balcony from all three bays, and these windows are fitted with external louvered shutters. The roof is piended, with overhanging eaves that feature brackets shaped and finished with rounded pendants. These brackets are distinctive because they contrast with the simpler sparred eaves found on most 19th-century houses in Lochgoilhead.

The walls are harled with painted narrow ashlar margins and quoins. The windows are timber sash and case, with horizontal 10-pane glazing, although the 20th-century extension has different windows. The piended roof is covered with graded slates, and the gable-head stacks have mainly octagonal cans. Rainwater goods are primarily cast-iron.

To the rear of the house, on a steep slope, is a small store resembling a grotto. It has a rubbly, partially rendered front wall with an erratically castellated parapet and a lean-to roof currently covered with corrugated plastic. This structure was present by the 1870s.

A small, simple, rubble-built and lime-washed boathouse stands to the left of the entrance gates. Its roof is corrugated iron on one pitch and slated in diminishing courses on the other. The boathouse also dates to at least the 1870s.

At the foot of the drive are a pair of square-plan gateposts with segmental caps and wrought iron pedestrian gates.