Kilmun, Heathbank

Kilmun, Heathbank

This group of six houses was built around 1828 by David Napier, the entrepreneur who was largely responsible for developing Kilmun, Strone and Blairmore as a resort destination. Napier constructed a pier and established steamboat routes running directly from Glasgow, transforming the area into an early tourist attraction. The 'Tea Caddies', as they became known, represent some of the earliest houses built to serve the holiday traffic and are among the first examples of seaside development on the Clyde Coast. The group contributes significantly to Kilmun's character and has particular scenic value when viewed from across the Holy Loch. The houses are also historically important for their association with Napier and the wider opening of the Clyde Estuary to tourism.

The six houses were originally identical in design. They are three-bay, three-storey buildings with rectangular plans, though they have undergone various later alterations. All are roofed with shallow-pitched piended slates and feature ashlar stacks with clay cans. The walls are predominantly painted rubble with sandstone dressings.

Anchorage has a large flat-roofed glazed porch to its central entrance. The windows are predominantly timber sash and case, with some later plastic replacements. Ground floor windows have been widened since construction. Internally, the original layout and stone stair have been retained, though the house has been modernised.

Ardmun features a large flat-roofed glazed porch across the front elevation and a late 20th-century piended-roof square extension to the rear. The ground floor windows were lowered in the 20th century to form French doors, and replacement windows were installed on the front elevation in 2005.

Fountain Villa has a later small flat-roofed glazed porch and a later single-storey canted bay to the front elevation. More recently, a single-storey piend-roofed extension was added to the north-west elevation. Two-pane timber sash and case windows remain. The house retains internal features including a stone stair, timber windows and shutters.

Heathbank has a later lean-to shingle-roofed glazed porch and has undergone fewer external changes, apart from window replacement with modern timber versions dating to around 1960. A shed to the rear has been demolished and replaced with a modern timber structure to the east. Internally, the house retains simple cornices and architraves and the original stone stair, though the original pantry to the west at the rear was removed to create a larger kitchen.

Lochview has a later flat-roofed concrete porch to the central entrance. The front windows are two-pane and four-pane timber sash and case, while the stair window to the rear is 16-pane timber sash and case. The interior is among the most intact of the six, retaining the stone stair, timber windows and shutters, a boarded timber door to the rear, and a cast iron fireplace with tiled cheeks and hearth, though the ceilings have been replaced throughout.

Woodburn features a flat-roofed glazed porch to the central entrance and a two-storey canted bay to the left. The house has been considerably altered, including cement-harling of the walls, formation of double windows on the front elevation, and the addition of a small single-storey garage extension to the east. Internally, the stone stair was removed and replaced in the 1930s. Windows are predominantly two-pane timber sash and case, with stained glass dating to around 1900 in the stair window. The house is cement-harled rubble with painted sandstone dressings.

The group sits on steeply terraced gardens sloping towards both the road and shore, with service access by a narrow lane to the rear. Boundary walls are of rubble with square-plan gatepiers and cast iron and wrought-iron gates. To the rear of the houses are various outbuildings, both original and later additions, including single and two-storey structures.