Glenarbuck House

Glenarbuck House

A Neo-classical mansion house of the early 19th century, comprising a two-storey rectangular main block with attic storey, arranged in three bays, alongside a large two-storey service and accommodation block to the rear (now divided into two dwellings).

The main house is built of diagonally droved, painted ashlar with raised ashlar dressings and raised margins to the front. The sides and rear are rendered. A droved basecourse runs below a corniced eaves course. The most prominent features are the two-storey bowed end bays, which project at either side and contain large tripartite bay windows at both ground and first floor levels, each with classical architraves at ground level. The side and rear openings have plain raised margins.

The principal south elevation is symmetrical and dominated by a Roman Doric portico at its centre. The columns are plain and unfluted, set on low square stone plinths with a corniced abacus at the head. The Doric entablature displays rounded guttae beneath moulded triglyphs, with plain rectangular modillions to the underside of the projecting, banded cornice. Above this stand wooden four-panel double storm doors with a ten-pane fanlight. Flanking the portico are pedimented tripartite windows with stone mullions featuring moulded acanthus and horizontally fluted details. The cills are projecting and shouldered with raised, banded borders and vertical fluted detailing. Four large plain dentils sit at the base of each pediment. The first floor contains three windows, while the attic is lit by two segmentally arched, lead-roofed, two-light rectangular dormers.

The west elevation contains eight bays (three to the main house, five to the service block), with a bowed two-storey bay at the far right displaying tripartite windows at ground and first floor (the left-hand first floor window is blind). Two later 20th-century doorways are positioned to the left of the bowed bays, with the right-hand doorway originally a window. Above the right doorway sits a first floor window with a piended boxed dormer to the attic. The service block bays have windows to ground and first floor levels. One window in the penultimate bay was originally a doorway. The far left bay contains single openings at upper ground floor and first floor levels only.

The north elevation has five bays with a central doorway, two small windows to the right at ground level, a window to the far left at ground floor, a first floor window to the penultimate left bay, and a small window to the right.

The east elevation contains eight bays (two to the main house, six to the service block). A bowed two-storey bay at the far left has a tripartite first floor window (the third light now blocked). A long tripartite stair window lights the right bay of the main house at first floor level. The ground floor has an off-centre right window with a small light to its left. The service block displays irregular fenestration and a doorway to the penultimate right bay.

The windows throughout are twelve-pane timber sash and case, with some sixteen-pane and four-light variants. The stair windows are lattice paned. The main house is roofed with piended and conical roof forms, with semi-conical roofs to the bowed side bays. The service block has a U-shaped double ridge roof with piended ends. Four corniced ashlar ridge stacks are distributed across the main house and service block (two to west, two to main house, one to right service block), with new circular clay cans fitted. A timber panelled door with a ten-light chequered timber fanlight provides the main entrance.

A sundial stands on the lawn to the south of the main house, comprising a plain stone baluster column on a round moulded base, topped by a Doric capital supporting a square platform, with a copper dial featuring arabesque moulding.

Interior access was not obtained at the time of listing (2004).