Old Kilmun House, Kilmun

Old Kilmun House stands at the foot of a steep hill facing southwest over the Holy Loch. It is one of the most important buildings in the parish and is unusual because of its six-bay layout. Few houses combine such classical features with an asymmetrical façade, and the building includes part of or reused stonework from a 16th-17th century building. For its unusual layout and early date, Old Kilmun House is of special architectural interest.

The house consists of three main sections: the original block, probably from the early 18th century; a later 19th century addition to the rear; and a block dating from around 1900 at the southwest corner. The main house is a two-storey structure over a basement with six bays. The entrance is off-centre, positioned on the third bay from the left and set on the raised ground floor, accessed by way of a formal stone stair. The main doorway is pedimented and bolection-moulded, probably a later feature. Immediately to the left at basement level is a second door. The fenestration is regular, with smaller square windows to the basement. The façade features a cavetto eaves cornice, presumed to belong to the time of the 19th century improvements.

The northeast elevation at the rear includes some earlier fabric, including a number of roll-moulded window surrounds. It is unclear whether this represents the reuse of earlier fragments or an earlier wall, though reuse seems most likely. After 1863, a large extension was built to the northwest corner. On the second edition Ordnance Survey map, this extension appears recessed from the main block and single-storey in stone. The substantial extension to the west, aligned with the main block and including a corner canted bay with a corbelled and crow-stepped upper floor, dates from around 1900 or later. The door to this section faces west and is topped by a blank plaque.

The interior is predominantly 19th century in character, featuring good quality joinery including a timber staircase, timber panelling, and a built-in dresser in the dining room. The dining room also displays timber fielding to the ceiling and heavy dentilled cornicing. One of the upstairs bedrooms contains a small bolection-moulded stone fireplace, painted and set within a later timber surround.

The house is constructed of rubble with sandstone dressings, with fine ashlar dressing to the later block. Timber sash and case windows are used throughout; the 19th century block has modern plastic replacements. The roof is slate with a lead ridge. Corniced stone gable-head stacks with clay cans crown the roofline.

The house is bounded by a rubble wall and cast iron railings. According to the map of around 1863, the entrance was directly to the front of the house, with what appears to be a small walled garden to the southwest. To the west were two large related buildings, which had been demolished by 1898, by which time two symmetrical sweeping drives had been created. Later, a substantial amount of the garden was given over to the cemetery, and the present access is from the southwest.

The Kilmun estate was acquired from the Campbells of Kilmun in the early 18th century by the Campbells of Finab. From 1778, when Robert Campbell inherited the Perthshire estate of Monzie, the house was no longer a laird's seat and was let out to several tenants. In the later 19th century, the Kilmun estate was sold to the Benmore estate, probably while under the ownership of James Duncan, and it is likely that he carried out the 19th century works.