Christmas Cottage, Blairvockie Farm

Blairvockie Farm is situated on a steep rise of ground above the road between Balmaha and Rowardennan. The property comprises a circa 1851 farmhouse and the original later 18th century farmhouse, forming an exceptional example of a working farm where both the 18th century dwelling and its 19th century replacement survive together. The site is valued for the quality of its architecture and its relatively unaltered condition.

Blairvockie House

The main farmhouse is a T-plan villa, single storey with attic breaking the broad sparred eaves. The symmetrical 3-bay front elevation faces southwest to take advantage of views towards Loch Lomond. Steps lead to the central timber-boarded door, which has a rectangular fanlight. The flanking bays have timber-finalled gables breaking the eaves, and a later flat-roofed dormer sits at the centre of the roof. The rear northeast wing is single storey with a lean-to roofed addition to the north side; the rear elevation has openings to ground floor only.

The southwest elevation is constructed of squared coursed whin rubble with red sandstone quoins and margins. The sides and rear are random rubble with red sandstone quoins and margins. The windows are mainly horizontal 10- and 12-pane timber sash and case. The pitched roof is covered in graded slate except to the northeast wing, with overhanging sparred eaves. A corniced ashlar gablehead stack with circular cans rises at the northwest gable.

Inside, some plasterwork and woodwork remains. The timber dog-leg stair features winders and cast-iron balusters.

Christmas Cottage and Flanking Outbuildings

The original 18th century farmhouse, now known as Christmas Cottage, stands directly to the rear of Blairvockie House. It is a 3-bay, 2-storey rectangular-plan harled house, flanked by long single storey piend-ended steading ranges. A further L-plan northeast and northwest range and a rectangular-plan southeast range form an enclosed yard to the rear of Christmas Cottage.

Christmas Cottage has a southwest facing 3-bay front elevation with modern timber doors to the left bay (probably originally a window opening) and the centre bay. The left door gives access to a bothy, which is also partly contained within the adjoining single storey outbuilding. This outbuilding has a 3-bay southwest elevation of blocked and blind openings. The outbuilding range to the right is 4-bay with 4-pane glazed windows.

The rear northeast elevation of Christmas Cottage is asymmetrical, with a central timber-boarded and glazed door to ground floor flanked by windows of varying sizes, two to each side, and two windows to first floor. The southeast outbuilding range is 4-bay with a widened opening to the inner left and a blocked window and door to the right. The northwest outbuilding range is 7-bay with several altered openings.

Christmas Cottage is harled with concrete and stone narrow margins and quoin strips and a stone eaves course. The flanking ranges are random rubble with rough red sandstone margins and quoins. All have pitched graded slate roofs with piended ends to the flanking ranges. Harled coped gable-end stacks rise from Christmas Cottage. Windows are mainly 4-pane timber sash and case.

The interiors of Christmas Cottage have been modernised, but the property retains a tiled range surround to ground floor and two register grates with classical timber chimneypieces to first floor. The southeast outbuilding range contains a room with flagstone floor and large fireplace. The northwest outbuilding range includes a former shepherd's bothy connecting to the house with timber panelling to walls, a cast-iron stove and reeded timber chimneypiece. At the centre are stables with a cobbled floor, four stalls with timber partitions and stop-chamfered posts.

Steading

The northeast range forms an L-plan hay barn with a hay-loft door breaking the eaves to the southwest elevation. The rectangular-plan southeast range has lean-to construction adjoining to the southeast elevation.

Materials throughout are random rubble with mainly brown sandstone rough quoins and margins; red sandstone quoins and margins appear to the northeast range. The L-plan block has a pitched roof with piended roof to the southeast range, both covered in graded slate. Stone skews rise to the northeast range of the L-plan block.