Description

Circa 1890. Large 2-storey 5-bay symmetrical Italianate villa, now in commercial use, with piended roof, prominent doorpiece and ballustered aprons. Pink sandstone with cream ashlar dressings. Band and string course to 1st floor. Bracketed eaves course.

FURTHER DESCRIPTION: principal (S) elevation with central single-leaf panelled door with fanlight set in round-headed and keystoned arch in advanced pilastered doorpiece with ballustered apron and bi-partite window above. Outer bays slightly advanced with pilastered tripartite windows with carved friezes. Regular fenestration to 1st floor. Slightly advanced outer bays to N elevation with central projecting bay window to centre at ground, ballustered balcony above. Single-storey service wing to E.

Plate glass set in timber sash and case windows. Grey slate with lead flashings. Series of coped wall-head, gable and ridge stacks.

INTERIOR: modernised but retaining many original features including arcaded entrance hall, ornate fireplaces and vestibule mosaic.

Statement of Interest

A large and imposing villa which makes confident use of the Italianate style and a range of classical detailing. The building is notable for its doorpiece and the ballustered aprons, as well as the contrasting pink and cream masonry. It is unusual in that it has an institutional as opposed to residential presence.

Drummondhill was built by William Burns and his wife Jane Fraser. Burns was a leading Inverness solicitor and he acquired the land in 1886-7. The house was constructed shortly after and their initials are carved above the entrance. It was the last of several large villas to be built in this part of Inverness in the second half of the 19th century. During this period many of the villas were owned and lived in by lawyers.

Although the architect of the house is not known it is possibly by Alexander Ross who was a prolific architect in Inverness during this period, and is credited with designing the associated lodge.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17825103

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

• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Central Leinster: Kildare, Laois and Offaly (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Surrey (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects by Harwood, Richard (2012) Paperback