Belleisle Hotel, Doonfoot Road, Ayr, Ayr, South Ayrshire

Description

Circa 1787; major reconstruction (probably by William Burn) 1829 (dated doorpiece); further additions circa 1800 and 1895; 20th century alterations and additions. 2-storey with basement and attic, 11-bay Scottish Baronial mansion. Coursed sandstone; ashlar dressings. String courses at ground and 1st floor; crowstepped gables; finials at apexes.

NW (ENTRANCE) ELEVATION: 11-bay, grouped 6-5. 5-bay section to right: piers and balusters (see below) flank steps to entrance in penultimate gabled bay to right. Jacobean pilastered and pedimented doorpiece (dated 1829); decorative consoles; dentils; 2-leaf timber door; mullioned and transomed 3-light window aligned above at 1st floor; shield motif in square panel to gablehead; single windows to return to right at basement, ground and 1st floor (blind opening at 1st floor). 2-light window at basement to gabled bay to outer right; 4-light transomed and mullioned window at ground floor with relieving arch; 2 single windows at 1st floor; cross panel to gablehead. 2 arched arrowslit openings at ground and 1st floor; single opening at attic to slim conicial-roofed circular turret to left return of main entrance (infilled openings at 1st floor to left and at attic); flanking single windows at ground and 1st floor (1st floor windows infilled), single window to left at basement. Timber door and letterbox fanlight at basement to left of 2 bays to outer left, single window to right; regular single window fenestration at ground and 1st floor; 1st floor windows form pedimented dormer heads. 6-bay section to left: advanced crowstepped gabled canted bay to outer right; 2-light windows at basement, ground and 1st floor (transomed at 1st floor); single windows to all faces of canted returns; ball-finialled balustraded parapet above; anchor plaque to gablehead. Single openings at ground and 1st floor to penultimate bay to right. Single windows at basement and 1st floor; 2-light window at ground in advanced rectangular-plan adjacent bay. Steps to entrance of slim, conical-roofed circular turret; 2-leaf timber door; 3-light letterbox fanlight; single infilled window above to left; arched arrowslit window to right. 2-light windows at basement, ground and 1st floors to shallow, advanced, pedimented bay to outer left (transomed and mullioned windows at ground and 1st floor); foliage detail to pediment. Modern single storey addition adjoins.

SE (REAR) ELEVATION: 11-bay, exposed basement. Modern flat-roofed single storey section spans 3 bays to left; 2-leaf glazed timber door to re-entrant angle to right. Single windows at ground and 1st floor to gabled bay to outer left; transomed and mullioned window at attic. Single windows to 3 faces of canted balustraded section at ground and 1st floor; single window to right canted face at basement; flat-roofed dormer at attic. Round-arched arrowslit windows at ground, 1st and attic floors to slim, conical-roofed circular turret adjoining to right (infilled opening at attic). 2 single windows at basement; 4-light window at ground floor; 3-light window at 1st floor; catslide dormer at attic to bay to right; additional advanced section to right comprises arrowslit window at basement and single window at 1st floor; timber door with letterbox fanlight and single window above to return to left. Bipartite window at basement; 4-light windows at ground and 1st floor to shallow advanced bay to gabled section; pierced parapet with terminating ball-finialled piers at corner angles. 2 single windows at basement; 4-light window at ground floor; 3-light window at 1st floor; catslide window at attic to adjacent bay. Single window at basement to bay to right; 2-light windows at ground and 1st floors; catslide dormer at attic. Round-arched arrowslit openings at basement, ground and 1st floor to slim, conical-roofed circular turret. Timber door with letterbox fanlight and large modern window at basement of gabled bay to outer right; 3-light window at ground floor; 2-light window at 1st floor; plaque to gablehead. Modern single storey addition adjoins.

SW (SIDE) ELEVATION: 6-bay, grouped 1-1-1-3. Balustraded steps to advanced penultimate gabled bay to left; canted transomed and mullioned ground floor window; 3-light transomed and mullioned window at 1st floor; corbelled stack at gable apex; single windows at basement to returns to left and right. Single openings at basement, ground and 1st floors to bay to outer left; arrowslit opening at ground floor; blind window at 1st floor forms pedimented dormer head. Timber door and letterbox fanlight at basement to right of advanced gabled bay; arrowslit opening (infilled) at ground floor; pedimented dormer head to 1st floor window. 2 single windows at basement and ground floor to 3-bay gable to outer right; 3 single windows at 1st floor; transomed and mullioned window at attic.

NE ELEVATION: not seen 1999.

Variety of glazing patterns including plate glass, 4-, 8-, 12- and 24-pane timber sash and case windows. Slate roof; crowstepped skews; rooflights; wallhead, gablehead and ridge tall coped stacks; circular cans. Cast-iron rainwater goods.

INTERIOR: elaborate Jacobean plasterwork, circa 1830 interspersed with work by James Davidson (commissioned by the Coats family) in the corridor-hall, illustrating some of Robert Burns' poems. Panelled ceiling; figurative friezes; elaborate figure consoles; pilaster strips; dominating highly intricate fireplace.

MOUNTING BLOCK, PIERS AND BOUNDARY WALL: mounting block to left of principal entrance; piers and balustraded boundary wall to principal entrance and SW entrance.

Statement of Interest

B-Group with 57 Doonfoot Road (North Lodge), South Lodge, South Lodge Bridge crossing Slaphouse Burn, Greenhouse and Walled Garden (see separate listings). Hugh Hamilton of Pinmore built the mansion of Belleisle and laid out the policies, circa 1787. At his death, the estates were transferred to the second son of his cousin John Hamilton of Sundrum, Colonel Alexander West Hamilton, who enlarged and reconstructed the original house in 1829. Further additions circa 1900 were made to the NE by the Coats family (who purchased the house in 1898). As noted by Michael C Davis, Belleisle bears remarkable similarity to Burns' Milton Lockhart in Lanarkshire of 1829, including its large, mullioned and transomed windows, crowstepped gables and tall, thin pencil towers. Of particular note is the elaborate interior Jacobean plasterwork and timber carving.

External Links

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