Coire Ealt, Loch Eck

Coire Ealt is a fishing lodge dating to circa 1908, situated on the east bank of Loch Eck, surrounded by trees with a burn immediately to the south. The lodge, slightly altered in the 1930s, retains features of both periods and remains a good example of a sporting lodge of the early 20th century.

The building’s overall layout has changed little since its construction. It is long and low, single-storey with a dominant piended roof and overhanging eaves, and rectangular in plan, with a small projection to the rear. The front (west) elevation is six bays wide, with the right bay projecting slightly and containing a wider picture window. The central entrance opens onto the central lobby/reception room. The north elevation is two bays wide, including a garage door leading to a large internal garage. The rear elevation features a small piended projection, with a rear door and an outside toilet.

Around 1930, when the present owner’s family acquired the building, some internal alterations were carried out. A single room to the rear was converted into a kitchen and dining room, and a large rooflight was inserted over the main room to allow more light. A lean-to porch to the main entrance was subsequently removed. A second stack was later removed.

Several good interior features remain. The central reception room, opening directly off the main entrance, is fully panelled in teak, with window seats to either side and incorporating cupboards for sporting equipment. Matching doors lead from this room to the bedrooms, kitchen, and a short corridor to the garage. The principal chimneypiece in this room is brick-arched with timber seats. The bedrooms, with fitted cupboards likely dating to the 1930s, have small stoves, that to the main bedroom set within a brick chimneypiece. Floors are herringbone-pattern timber. The bathroom fittings are circa 1930, in an Art Deco style, featuring an Art Deco bath and toilet with Vitrolite to the walls. The interior garage has built-in cupboards.

The lodge is constructed of schist rubble, cement-harled to the south and east. It has timber multi-pane casement windows, a boarded main door, and a slate roof with a single ridge stack. A boarded and glazed double garage door completes the exterior.