Description

Circa 1760; wing to SE, circa 1819; mid and late 19th century additions; remodelled Ronald Alexander, 1980. 3-storey and attic, 3-bay house with 5-bay wing to SE. Harled principal elevation and NE block; sandstone rubble and squared an snecked sandstone to remainder; raised polished margins. Dividing band courses; eaves course; dentil moulded cornice to main block; eaves blocking course to wing. V-jointed long and short quoins to main block, strip quoins to wing.

NW (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: remodelled 1980 revealing 1760 house; symmetrical; doorway to centre of ground floor, panelled timber door with fanlight, flanked by 2 narrow windows; 1980 Venetian window to centre of 1st floor above; pair of windows to flanking bays to left and right at ground floor; regular fenestration to remaining bays and floors; 2 canted dormers to attic floor.

SW ELEVATION: gabled; irregular fenestration; early 1819 wing advanced to outer right, central bowed bay with 3 windows regularly placed to each floor; left return blank.

SE ELEVATION: 1819 5-bay wing; symmetrical; flat-roofed pilastered sandstone ashlar porch reached by flight of steps to centre of 1st (principal) floor, 2-leaf glazed timber door, flanked and surmounted by leaded stained glass panels, doorway to ground floor of left return; tripartite window to 2nd floor above; regular fenestration to flanking bays to left and right.

NE ELEVATION: gabled; ground floor obscured by 19th century pedimented porch on Tuscan columns, decorative doorway reached by stone steps, with 2 datestones (1889 and 1902) either side of Kennedy coat of arms above, panelled timber door with glazed circular panel; coped quadrant wall with balustrading to outer right, chamfered round-arched opening flanked by square-plan pier with spherical finial, low balustraded wall flanking; irregular fenestration to upper floors of gable behind. 1819 wing advanced to outer left, central bowed bay with 3 windows regularly placed to each floor.

Predominantly 2-pane and 12-pane timber sash and case windows. Grey slate roofs with lead ridges. Coped stone skews with ogee skewputts. Harled, corniced gablehead and wallhead stacks with octagonal cans. Cast-iron rainwater goods.

INTERIOR: not seen 1999.

Statement of Interest

B-Group with Doonholm Estate Stables and Sundial (see separate listings). What is now the Doonholm Estate was originally 2 smaller farms of Berriesden and Warlockholm, owned by the town of Ayr. In 1754 they were bought by James Neill at a public sale, who sold them to David Mitchell a year later. Dr William Fergusson, a retired physician bought the two farms and the 40 acres they came with from Mitchell in 1756 (two years later he also bought Mount Oliphant, see separate listing). Fergusson named the estate Doonholm, which was on the banks of the River Doon, and was responsible for building the house circa 1760. The estate remained in the Fergusson family until 1796 when John Hunter, who married the second daughter of Fergusson, bought it. Hunter increased the size of the house considerably by adding a substantial wing to the SE, with bowed end bays and a doorway in the centre. In the mid 19th century a further, Victorian, wing was added to the NW of the house, and in 1902 J Kennedy had the entrance moved to the NE. In 1980 Ronald Alexander remodelled the house for the family, removing the Victorian wing, and many of the later additions. The early 19th century wing was retained, as was the later porch to the NE. The Venetian window to the centre of the NW elevation was added at that time.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17853757

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Liverpool: Pevsner City Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living
• 
  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bristol (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide