Description

Circa 1840. 2-storey, 3-bay classical mansion house raised on basement, extended to rear. Painted ashlar with painted dressings. Giant order angle pilasters. Boldly projecting cornice, blocking course with moulded coping.

E (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: squared piers with flat moulded caps adjoining balustraded handrail, flanking 8 ashlar steps leading to 3-bay entrance front: projecting triangular pedimented portico with piers flanking Ionic columns in antis, central recessed door with bracketed cornice and narrow flanking lights, tripartite windows to outer bays with narrow outer lights and bracketed cornice. Central window to 1st floor with narrow lights flanking; tripartite windows to outer bays matching those at basement level.

S ELEVATION: 3 wide bays divided by pilasters; outer basement and ground floor windows canted with 2 windows above to 1st floor, extreme right window now blind; tripartite window in central bay to ground and 1st floors, tripartite window to basement with central light now blind and doorway cut into pilaster to right.

W (REAR) ELEVATION: L-plan: large 1 ? storey tripartite window to central stairway, single storey flat roofed extension below in re-entrant angle, window to left return. Single window to left bay at each floor of main house. Side and rear of S addition to all floors of right bay: gable with tripartite to ground floor and single window to 1st floor; addition single bay extension adjoining to left with door at basement and small window to 1st floor, blind to left return. Modern 2-storey, 3-bay gabled stone and harled extension adjoining house to NW by means of a modern 2-storey, 2-bay flat-roofed link.

N ELEVATION: 4 regularly placed bays to 2-storeys and basement, bracketed cornices to ground floor, painted margins to 1st floor, plain to basement.

12-pane timber sash and case windows; 4-pane to tripartites. 8 and 16-pane timber sash and case windows to bay windows. Some later 2-pane sash and case windows with modern casement with opening top hoppers to modern rear extension. Shallow piended grey slate roof concealed behind parapet. Pair of cruciform painted ashlar stacks, projecting corniced neck copes and tall cans, small rectangular painted ashlar stack with paired cans to later extension. Buff painted cast-iron rainwater goods to main house, gutters concealed behind parapet. Cast-iron and plastic rainwater goods to later extension, zinc water and heating vents.

INTERIOR: entrance hallway: fluted columns and pilasters with Corinthian capitals support ornate cornices and beams. Panelled ceiling mouldings. Timber panelled doors with architraved surrounds. Plaster ceiling roses. Timber panelled window surrounds with shutters and boxed valances. Some early fire surrounds. Later additions to rear have modern interiors.

Statement of Interest

Part of a B-Group with Springhill Lodge and Stables. Built for the Finnie family (Kilmarnock coal masters) circa 1830. The house originally began as a rectangular-plan, but was extended to the rear after 1850, with a wing in similar style that changed it to an L-plan. The addition provided extra public rooms to the ground floor and bedrooms to the 1st floor. The house was still occupied in the 1930's by the Misses Finnie, descendants of the original owner. They gifted the house to the town, and after the war it became an eventide home. The alterations were drawn up by Gabriel Steel, who designed the Fire Station on Titchfield Street and also the cottages within the Springhill policies (circa 1966). The house is still in use as a residential home for the elderly, and the cottages provide sheltered accommodation. The stables and lodge have been converted and are now privately owned.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17791733

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

• 
  Gloucestershire 2: The Vale and The Forest of Dean: Vale and Forest of Dean Pt. 2 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)