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Mansion House, still in use, within a designed landscape (NO65NE0069). The Old Montrose estate was the seat of the Earls and Dukes of Montrose for several centuries, dating back to the 15th century. The mansion originated as a late-18th century rectangular-plan red sandstone house, which was likely a dower house. It was extended in circa 1840 with an L-plan addition to the east and a single-storey office range to the north, forming a narrow courtyard, distinguished by crowstepped, finialled gables and some hoodmoulded windows. It is shown on the 1st and 2nd edition OS map as an irregular L-plan building with two parallel wings projecting to the west, forming a court open to the west. A couple of canted bay windows to the ground floor were added in the mid-19th century, and a tower to the south elevation and a lean-to addition to the north elevation were added in the later-19th/early-20th century. The oldest part of the house is largely concealed when approaching the north entrance front, which is dominated by a double-gabled elevation with a projecting central single-storey porch with a roll-moulded doorpiece. The single-storey office wing is set just forward of the main house, to the west. The south elevation clearly displays the three phases of building. The 18th century wing, which became a service wing when the house was extended, has five-bays with three heavy shouldered ridge stacks (partly rebuilt). The rear elevation of this wing has very few openings. The corbelled-out square-plan tower, which has a slightly bell-cast pyramidal roof, overlays the junction between the 18th century wing and the two-bay M-gabled 1840 extension, of which the west gable is advanced with a canted bay window to the ground floor. Most of the house is constructed from red sandstone rubble with ashlar detailing, with reused stone with red brick pinnings to the 18th century wing. The tower is constructed from snecked sandstone.
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