Benmore House

Benmore House is the principal estate house of North Cowal. It is an elaborate Baronial mansion of multiple building phases, reflecting the work of successive well-known architects and occupying a significant position within an important designed landscape.

The house comprises a 2-storey crowstepped south-facing central block dating to around 1850, featuring a projecting 2-storey entrance porch and a slender bell-tower. To the right, slightly recessed, stands a 2-storey east wing with a canted corner bay to a single-storey end bay. To the west is a gable-fronted 1½-storey block, behind which rises a prominent 4-storey square tower, turreted, corbelled and crowstepped, dating to around 1862. To the rear lies a large open service court surrounded by further crowstepped blocks from around 1874. The front elevation overlooks parkland and features a terrace with a dwarf wall and steps to the lawns. To the northeast stands an L-shaped crowstepped outbuilding, probably formerly a power house.

The construction history reflects changing ownership and architectural ambitions. In 1849, when John Lamont purchased the Benmore estate for his nephew James, he commissioned Mr Baird of Glasgow (likely John Baird II, 1816–1893) to build a new house. The work of around 1850 probably consisted of little more than the 3-bay 2-storey entrance block with an advanced arcaded porch and balcony above.

In 1862, the estate changed hands to an American owner, Mr Patrick, who employed Charles Wilson (1810–1863), one of the major Glasgow architects of the 19th century, to extend the house. Wilson's designs included the crowstep-gabled west wing linking to the new 4-storey tower with a circular tower on the southeast corner and shorter bartizan turrets on the remaining three sides. His drawings also show a service court to the rear and a long conservatory to the east, which appears on the Ordnance Survey map of around 1863. A classical portico was drawn but not executed.

In 1870, James Duncan, a Greenock sugar refiner, acquired the estate and around 1874 employed David Thomson, former partner of Charles Wilson, to enlarge the service accommodation. Thomson created a large 2-storey crow-stepped block with a substantial multiple stack, enclosing a new courtyard accessed by a round-headed arch in a free-standing crow-stepped gable. He also added an enormous castellated glass-roofed picture gallery to the east of the conservatory and may have been responsible for the small square-plan bell tower to the rear of the entrance porch. The stepped corbels on the main elevation may likewise be Thomson's work, as they do not appear in Wilson's proposals.

The picture gallery did not long outlive James Duncan's ownership. When he sold the estate to Henry J Younger in 1889, by the end of the century Younger had demolished both the gallery and the long conservatory, building instead the present east wing. This wing takes details from both the 1850s and 1860s work and terminates in a single-storey block with the canted corner bay.

The house is constructed principally of buff sandstone rubble with ashlar dressings. Roofs are of leaded grey slate. Windows are timber sash and case, predominantly plate glass, with some lying panes to the rear and central block.

The interior, despite some alteration, retains excellent features. The layout consists of a large central stair hall with main reception rooms and a corridor leading to the library and further accommodation. The drawing room of around 1890 features a panelled plasterwork ceiling and an elaborate baroque white marble fireplace with a large overmantel mirror. The library is lined with oak panelling and oak beams, with richly carved cupboards and overmantel. The main stair displays a pierced strapwork design with a large armorial leaded light window. The rear stair is also of oak with turned balusters. Throughout the remainder of the house are elaborate plasterwork cornices and friezes, and good-quality joinery including a Venetian main doorway.

The estate's history extends back to the 18th century, when it formed part of a deer forest used by the Dukes of Argyll. In the early 19th century it was purchased by Thomas Harkness, a pioneering sheep farmer thought to have built a farmhouse since demolished. In 1831 it passed to Ross Wilson, who may have built a small house in the southern part of the estate, also since demolished, possibly later used as a lodge at the Golden Gates.

James Duncan, known to have possessed a substantial art collection, frequently opened the Benmore picture gallery to the public. In the summers of 1881–2, the gallery attracted 8,000 visitors.

Later use of the house, both by the Forestry Commission and as an outdoor education centre, resulted in alterations principally to the interior, though a large fire escape was added to the west elevation of the tower.

Benmore estate is perhaps best known as the setting for Benmore Botanic Garden, run by the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. The garden and designed landscape is notable for its collection of coniferous trees, planted by successive owners since around 1820.

The house forms part of a B-group listing including the steading, north lodge and gates, the golden gates, Puck's Hut, fernery, walled garden, and cottages to the east. It lies within the Benmore-Younger Botanic Garden Designed Landscape.