Cameron House Hotel And Country Estate

Cameron House Hotel and Country Estate

A substantial castellated mansion designed by William Spence, with the principal house built in 1830 and major additions made in 1865, followed by extensive modern extensions. The building combines 2-storey and 4-storey elements with Tudor details throughout.

The earlier 1830 house on the northeast main elevation presents a symmetrically composed 2-storey block over a raised basement, spanning 5 bays. At its centre stands a slightly advanced 2-storey entrance block with crowstepped ashlar gable and attic storey. The entrance itself is approached by steps leading to a tripartite arched porch with a corbelled decorative shaped pediment, an armorial plaque at centre, and a heavy 6-panelled door. The principal floors are constructed from stugged, squared and snecked sandstone. A bipartite window with hoodmould lights the first floor, while the corbelled attic storey contains a single window within the gable. Bartizans accent the corners. The flanking bays feature ashlar panelled lintels with corbelled, jettied pediments to the dormerheads above, each centred with a plaque. A central tower rising behind the main block is crowned with a castellated parapet and bartizans. A large modern 3-storey wing adjoins at an angle to the left, with ashlar base course and rendered upper floors mirroring the details of the main block, including a crowstepped gable and pedimented dormerheads with 4-pane sash and case windows.

The southwest elevation demonstrates the complexity of the building's evolution. A 2-bay block from the 1830s occupies the outer left, with a basement door at centre flanked by windows, and a Palladian window at principal floor level flanked by symmetrical windows. Two pedimented dormerheads with ashlar blocking course and raised pediment at centre distinguish this section. The 1865 4-bay addition extends to the right with a corbelled string course above the principal floor. A slightly advanced bartizaned gable features a 3-stage balustraded bow extending from basement to second floor, with a bipartite basket-arched window at basement and attic stages, and an arrowslit in the gablehead. A recessed narrow bay to the right contains a square projecting window with basket-arched window at ground floor, bipartite windows above, a decorative balustraded blocking course, and a bracketed pedimented dormerhead at attic level. A 4-stage tower bay occupies the penultimate right position, with a square projecting bay at ground floor containing a small basket-arched window at basement and a tripartite window above. A balustraded blocking course divides this section, with a bipartite window above and a third-floor window flanked by raised ashlar plaques, followed by a string course dividing the attic storey with two symmetrically disposed windows and a corbelled shaped parapet with corner bartizan. A 5-stage tower at the outer right contains a basement door, a blind bipartite window, windows at each floor, an ashlar plaque above the third-floor window, a string course, another window, and a corbelled caphouse storey with tripartite window, all topped by a corbelled shaped parapet with corner bartizans. A modern 2-storey L-plan ashlar wing extends to the outer right, its parapet broken by gables that terminate in an octagonal glazed hall.

Throughout the building, windows are 4-pane and plate glass timber sash and case units. The roof is finished in grey slate with lead flashings. Broad corbelled and corniced ashlar stacks with circular cans punctuate the roofline.

The interior retains well-maintained surviving features including a heavy wood-panelled hall with decorative plasterwork ceilings and cornices throughout. Stained glass with four portrait heads above the door to the stairhall is particularly notable. A heavy wooden stair with turned balusters ascends from the hall. The library contains decorative wooden fireplace, dado panelling, and bookcases. A simple cupola with rope-moulding lights the stairwell of the earlier house. Moulded architraves frame the doors.

A terrace wall extends northeast of the house in front of the main elevation, constructed with a bull-faced rubble base, ashlar parapet with gunloops, and curved bastion walls at the corners.