Coldrach

Coldrach is a farmhouse built between 1763 and 1769 by Alexander Gowan, a mason, and is situated on an elevated site facing southwest within the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park. The farmhouse is two storeys and has an attic, with a U-plan single-storey range of offices adjoining the rear (northwest) elevation. A U-plan steading is located to the rear of the farmhouse. It represents a relatively unaltered example of a mid-18th century Buchanan Estate farmhouse with associated offices.

The three-bay front elevation (southeast) is symmetrical, featuring a central two-leaf timber boarded door with a rectangular two-light fanlight above. The door opening is partially obscured by a lean-to porch/greenhouse. Windows, including two bipartite piend-roofed dormers, are larger than typically found in an 18th century building, suggesting possible 19th century remodelling. Four windows are visible on the northwest side elevation, while only one, serving the attic, is present on the southeast side. A discreet cavetto eaves cornice embellishes both front and rear elevations.

The rear (northwest) elevation includes a single-storey lean-to section with flanking projecting piend-roofed wings. While the wall thickness separating the main house from the lean-to suggests it may have originally been an external wall, with the single-storey sections being a later addition, contemporary records from the Scottish Records Office (GD 220/6/1455/5) refer to "offices adjoining to the back part."

Internally, the kitchen within the single-storey lean-to section has a 20th century cast iron range. Moulded cornicing is found in the ground and first floor rooms, and much of the woodwork, including architraves and shutters, is original or from the 19th century. A reeded timber chimneypiece is in the ground floor southeast room, and a stone stair with moulded risers leads to the attic, where the steps are plain droved stone.

The farmhouse is constructed from harled random rubble with squared quoins, some of which have lost their harl. Most windows are modern 12-pane timber sash and case; some 12, 8 and 2-pane timber sash and case windows with horns are found in the single storey sections. The pitched roof is covered in graded slates, with stone skews and moulded skewputts. There are two gable-head stacks and one wallhead stack on the two-storey section, a ridge stack on the northwest single-storey wing, and a wallhead stack at the end of the southeast single-storey wing. All stacks are brick with circular cans.

The U-plan steading, situated immediately to the northwest of the house, is constructed from rubble with roughly squared quoins, some of which is harled, and has piended roofs mainly covered in graded slate. The outer elevation of the southwest range has three cart-arches; originally there were likely six, but others have been altered to accommodate modern farm equipment access to the barn.