Creag Mhor, Aberfoyle

Creag Mhor is a late 19th century villa constructed in a roughly L-plan, showcasing Arts and Crafts detailing. It is situated within landscaped gardens on the north side of the road, just west of Aberfoyle. The building presents as a single-storey structure on its principal elevation, with a two-storey block to the rear, where the first floor slightly juts out over a pulvinated string course.

A drive approaches the villa from the east, leading to the east elevation. This elevation features a single-storey section on the left with a gable breaking the eaves centrally, and to the right, a two-storey, two-bay gable-end section. A small, largely glazed porch with multi-pane windows projects from the centre, serving as the understated main entrance. A mullioned and transomed window is positioned above and slightly to the right of the porch, illuminating the interior staircase. The west elevation echoes the east, with a pentagonal bay projecting from the left side of the single-storey section, which itself projects to the west.

The south elevation, facing the road, is near-symmetrical with three bays; the outer bays are gabled and include half-timber detailing with triple mullioned windows. The single-storey wing’s position on the most public-facing elevation creates the impression of a modest country dwelling, while the more substantial two-storey wing, placed out of view at the rear, allows for adequate accommodation and prestige.

A small, single-storey service block with a piend roof projects from the rear (north) elevation, including a timber-boarded door on its east side.

Access to the interior was not possible during a 2005 survey.

Adjacent to the northeast of the main house stands a single-storey, rectangular building oriented north-south. Originally a small service range, possibly incorporating laundry facilities, it has three doorways on the west elevation; the leftmost doorway has been partially blocked to create a window, while the other two remain with timber-boarded doors. A rubble wall separates this block from the house, screening the service area from the drive. The south elevation has been largely opened out to create a garage door, although it may have originally been a smaller cart arch providing access to a gig-house at the south end of the building.

The villa’s construction utilizes squared and snecked whin rubble with red sandstone margins and quoins. Windows are predominantly double and triple-mullioned with single-pane timber sash and case glazing, although there is some multi-pane glazing on the east elevation. The roof is pitched and piended with graded slates, low overhanging bracketed eaves, and simple bargeboards. Tall stacks are present, primarily wall-head or pitch, with a wall-end stack breaking the eaves on the west elevation; the stacks are mainly constructed from whin with sandstone quoins, with two being rendered.