Arden House

Arden House is a Baronial mansion dating to 1868, designed by John Burnett. The building is constructed of stugged, squared, and snecked sandstone with ashlar margins and dressings. It is rectangular in plan, with a 2-storey and attic configuration and an asymmetrical façade.

The southwest elevation, the main entrance front, features a five-bay main block and a three-bay tower bay to the outer right. A porte-cochère is located to the outer left, supported by squat marble Venetian Gothic columns on splayed ashlar pedestals. The porte-cochère’s roof is stepped and incorporates blank armorial plaques at the centre of each side, with quatrefoil inserts in the squinches, and bipartite windows on its right and left returns. Above the main block rises a narrow gabled bay, featuring a tripartite window at the first floor and a window with a hoodmould above. A narrow bay to the right contains the stone portion of the porte-cochère, a blocked window, a ground-floor window to the right, a central first-floor window, and a dormer. An advanced block to the right includes a gabled bay, a bipartite window at ground level to the right, an armorial plaque to the left, a first-floor bipartite window, and a gablehead window. A corbelled bartizan with a candlesnuffer roof and finial is also present. A canted window at ground level right is followed by four windows; the roof is stone coped, with a bipartite window above and a dormer. Another tripartite window at ground level is surmounted by a bipartite window and a dormer. A three-bay, three-storey tower block is situated to the outer right, displaying battlemented features, an ogee-roofed end turret, and a square chimney turret to the outer left. A two-storey, square, battlemented bay is centered, with a tripartite window at ground level, a bipartite window above, and flanking narrow windows at the first floor. The attic floor has three windows symmetrically disposed, with a bipartite window at the centre. The tower rises behind, incorporating a circular stair tower and a parapet.

The northwest elevation includes a gabled bay to the outer left with a canted, battlemented window at ground level, a bipartite window above, and a single window in the gablehead. A wallhead stack is present on the return. A central bay has a ground-floor bipartite window, a window above, and a dormer. A narrow gabled bay to the outer right features a ground-floor bipartite window, a first-floor window, a gablehead window, and a corbelled tower bay that transitions from round to square with a pyramidal roof.

The southeast elevation features a square tower bay to the outer left with a canted window rising through three stories and a tripartite window at the upper stage, capped by an ogee-roofed bartizan. A lower block is set to the right with a segmental arch at ground level, incorporating an open balustrade, and a large tripartite window above with quatrefoil upper panes. Two windows are situated above, as well as a dormer. A tall, square tower rises behind. A narrow gabled bay to the right displays a ground-floor and first-floor tripartite window, a small round turret, and a candlesnuffer roof.

The windows are largely plate glass timber sash and case. The roof is grey slate with lead flashings, and clustered octagonal stacks are visible. The interior was not inspected in 1995.