History in Structure

Balfour House

A Category B Listed Building in Birse, Aberdeenshire

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Coordinates

Latitude: 57.0546 / 57°3'16"N

Longitude: -2.736 / 2°44'9"W

OS Eastings: 355450

OS Northings: 796191

OS Grid: NO554961

Mapcode National: GBR WS.9RMS

Mapcode Global: WH7NJ.YY97

Plus Code: 9C9V3737+RH

Entry Name: Balfour House

Listing Name: Balfour House, Including Gate and Gatepiers

Listing Date: 25 November 1980

Category: B

Source: Historic Scotland

Source ID: 334067

Historic Scotland Designation Reference: LB3086

Building Class: Cultural

ID on this website: 200334067

Location: Birse

County: Aberdeenshire

Electoral Ward: Banchory and Mid Deeside

Parish: Birse

Traditional County: Aberdeenshire

Tagged with: House

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Description

1845. 2-storey and attic, 5-bay, cottage-style house with 2-storey wing to N. Harled with finely finished granite chamfered reveals. Base course; projecting cills; strip quoins; glazed panelled timber doors; gableted windows to 1st floor breaking eaves; overhanging eaves with decorative timber bargeboards.

E (ENTRANCE) ELEVATION: asymmetrical; gabled, advanced penultimate bay to left, consoled doorway with 2 stone steps to ground floor, 2-leaf door with tall fanlight, window centred above; 2 recessed bays flanking to right, door with 2-pane fanlight to left of ground floor, flanked to right by window, timber porch oversailing on rusticated timber columns, regular fenestration to 1st floor. Slightly recessed bay to outer left, window to centre of ground floor, 2 windows to 1st floor. Gabled bay slightly advanced to right, windows symmetrically placed to ground and 1st floors. Wing recessed to outer right, regular fenestration to ground and 1st floors.

N ELEVATION: near-symmetrical; predominantly obscured by wing; gabled wing advanced with door off-centre to right of ground floor, 2-pane window centred to 1st floor.

W ELEVATION: near-symmetrical; 3 recessed bays to centre with regular fenestration to ground and 1st floors; gabled bay flanking to left and right, canted window to ground floor of bay to right, regular fenestration to remainder. Wing recessed to outer left, regular fenestration to ground and 1st floors.

S ELEVATION: asymmetrical; 2-bay; irregular wall planes; gabled bay advanced to right with canted window to centre of ground floor, metal ash trap off-centre to left above. Small window below eaves of flanking bay to left

Predominantly 6 and 8-pane replacement timber casement windows. Graded grey slate roof with lead and tiled ridges. Variety of wallhead, ridge and gablehead stacks with single, paired and triple off-set flues. Cast-iron rainwater goods.

INTERIOR: not seen 1999.

GATE AND GATEPIERS: square-plan finely finished granite gatepiers with shallow pyramidal caps to NW of house. Cast-iron gate.

Statement of Interest

B-Group with Balfour Gardens Steading and Walled Garden (see separate listings). The Balfour Estate belonged originally to the Farqhuarsons of Finzean. It then was owned by the Marquis of Huntly who sold it to and Aberdeen advocate, Mr Francis J Cochran in 1840 who built the present house. Dinnie describes the house as "a very neat and handsome dwelling" (p81). According to Callander there was originally a tower house to the south of the W gate, and a mansion where the tennis court is now, which was demolished when Cochran built the present house.

External Links

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