Walled Garden And Outbuildings, Kinnell House

Walled Garden And Outbuildings, Kinnell House

Kinnell House was a former seat of the Macnab clan and likely contains fabric dating back to circa 1580, though its present form — a two-storey house with attic and five bays — was probably created in the 18th century. A single storey and attic wing was added to the east around 1850, and the timber bargeboards probably date from this period as well. The house sits within the south-eastern wall of a large rectangular walled garden. As an important part of Macnab clan history, Kinnell House follows a traditional form with a central projecting gable. Its five-bay arrangement distinguishes it from the more common three-bay houses of the district. The walled garden was an integral part of the estate and unusually retains its original cast-iron heating equipment, though the associated piping no longer survives.

The principal south-east elevation features a central advanced single-bay entrance gable with a tall gable stack, flanked by a pair of bays. The left bay has elongated windows to the first floor. The attic floor on the right has a gabled dormer with a bipartite window. Thackstoned gable stacks appear on the south-west and north-east elevations. To the far right is a sympathetically added single storey and attic wing from 1923. To the far left stands a long lean-to timber vinery glasshouse, heavily restored in the late 20th century. Only a few remnants survive of the once-huge Black Hamburg vine, brought from Auchlyne in 1832.

The rear north-west elevation has a central two-bay piended section that breaks the eaves. To the left is a two-bay section, and to the right a recessed section that is blank except for a low ground floor window.

The house is predominantly white harled with timber sash and case windows of six-pane over six-pane design. The roof is slate.

Interior

The interior is predominantly simple in character and retains much architectural character. It includes a timber turnpike staircase and six-panel timber doors. The library contains a good decorative scheme with a decorative cornice, a timber chimneypiece with reed pilasters and shell motifs, and a central panel depicting a lady in classical dress, reputed to be Lady Hamilton according to the present owner. The chimneypiece is flanked by timber bookshelves. Facing the windows is a recess supported by classical columns with plaster heads above, which formerly contained a Raeburn painting no longer in the house. The heads may represent sculptures brought back from Lochearn when the Macnab sons raided a rival clan.

Walled Garden and Ancillary Buildings

The rectangular walled garden comprises high stone rubble walls with an arched opening in the south-east wall. Running from the house to this opening is a series of terraced lean-to rubble-built buildings with slate roofs. One of these buildings contains the cast-iron heating equipment that would have heated the vinery on the opposite side of the wall and possibly the other walls of the garden itself.

The property forms part of a group listing that includes the Urn Gatepiers on West Drive, Kinnell Urn Gatepiers on West Drive, Lion Gatepiers on West Drive, Ball Finial Gatepiers on South Drive, Yellow Cottage, Kinnell House Steading, and Kinnell House Ice House.