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
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.
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.
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