Torhousemuir House and Gatepiers Wigtown, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, UK
Listed Building Description
Text courtesy of Historic England. © Crown Copyright, reprinted under the Open Government License.
Mid-later 18th century 2-storey, 3-bay house with large Victorian additions of 1871. 18th CENTURY HOUSE: 2-storey, 3 irregularly spaced bays rubble with polished red sandstone angle margins, architraved windows and bolection moulded cornice. Ground floor windows late 19th century enlargements. All sash and case windows with 4-pane glazing. There is no door, access being gained through the later additions; it is not certain whether the original door has been converted to a window or if it was off-centre to right,giving an original ground floor of 4 bays. Internal arrangements have been considerably altered, 1st floor drawing room survives with good chimneypiece. End skews, stepped at 1 side, probably early 19th century, corniced end stacks, octagonal cans, good graded slate roofs, sandstone ridge. REAR ELEVATION: rubble with granite quoins, all openings blocked possible stair window blocked in brick. 2-storey single bay piend-roofed addition to E. 1871 house: projecting to SE of original house, large crowstepped house, asymmetrical, rubble with polished cream sandstone quoins. W elevation 4-bay with gabled projecting right bay. Tripartite doorpiece in polished cream sandstone, door with barley sugar surround and fanlight. margin-paned stair window above. rear elevation 5-bay with gabled projecting stair block at centre (bipartite window glazed as above). Bipartites in flanking bays at ground. Single windows at 1st floor. Windows single light or bipartite, predominantly sash and case with 4-pane glazing. Crowstepped gables, corniced end and axial stacks, some octagonal cans, slate roofs. Some secondary glazing. GATEPIERS: pair of square section ashlar gatepiers to drive, posible resited. SE REAR elevation: 3-bay with boldly projecting gabled right bay, with crest above 1st floor window; bipartite window at ground.
Listed Building Statement of Special Interest
© Crown Copyright text courtesy of Historic Environment Scotland, reprinted under the Open Government License.
There are several unusual features to the original house. First, the elaboration of architraves and cornice is uncommon in this area except on much larger grander houses. Second, the spacing of the bays is a depature from the usual symmetrical centre-door 3-bay format of later 18th century houses, perhaps indicating an earlier date. Alternatively the bay arrangement may have been necessitated by the wish for a more spacious reception room than that allowed for in conventional 3-bay houses. The survival of the 1st floor drawing room is comparatively rare.