Craigruie With Walled Garden And Other Ancillary Structures

This is a two-storey villa, constructed in 1859 by the architects Peddie and Kinnear for the MacDonald family. It is prominently situated on the North Shore of Loch Voil. The villa, along with its associated walled garden, gardener’s cottage, and ancillary building, represents a significant example of 19th-century domestic architecture.

The villa is a substantial building composed of three blocks, with the height diminishing to the west. It features multiple gables on each elevation and regularly arranged windows within bays. The main elevation faces south, with the principal entrance on the east side. The central block on the south elevation has three bays, with two-storey canted windows that corbelled out to form gables above the first floor, each with French doors. A small gabled window sits between the canted windows. To the west of this is a slightly lower two-storey block, and beyond that, a single-storey service wing originally intended for a wash house, dairy, and other offices. A small kitchen courtyard is accessed from the north elevation. All window openings are chamfered, with shoulder-arched openings to the porch. A corniced string course wraps around the principal block, incorporating the downpipes. The chimney stacks are coped, and many of the original octagonal clay cans remain. A monogram “PK” on the north face of the chimney over the porch identifies the architects, while “JM” marks the initials of the original owner, John MacDonald.

The interior, last inspected in 2005, appears to retain most of its original fixtures. A stone bench is located inside the porch, and a tiled floor covers the lobby.

The villa is built from neatly coursed, squared, stugged sandstone with ashlar dressings. It features a timber-panelled front door with a brass handle, six-pane glazing in timber sash and case windows, plate glass to the canted windows, and a graded grey slate roof with tin gable finials.

To the west of the house is a roughly rectangular walled garden, with a dormered gardener's cottage adjoining the north wall. A small ancillary building with rendered walls and a timber-boarded door sits between the house and the garden.