Milton Brodie House
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| Milton Brodie House | |
|---|---|
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 Interactive map of the Milton Brodie House area | |
| General information | |
| Location | Near Kinloss, Moray, Scotland 57°38′50″N 3°31′22″W / 57.64722°N 3.52278°W |
| Completed | 1710 |
| Renovated | 1835–1841 |
| Design and construction | |
| Designations | Category A listed building[1] |
Milton Brodie House is a mansion near Kinloss in Moray, Scotland. Built for the Brodie family in 1710 on the site of an older tower house, it was originally called Windhills, but was renamed to commemorate the Milton estate that the family had formerly owned. It was substantially remodelled between 1835 and 1841 by William Robertson, and was designated a Category A listed building in 1989.
The nineteenth-century south facade of the house, which is rendered with incisions made to resemble ashlar,[1] has seven bays, the central five with a single storey, and with the outer bays of two storeys advanced and wider than the rest, designed to camouflage the rear gable ends of the original house to the rear.[2][3] In the centre of the facade is the main entrance, with a tetrastyle portico supported by Ionic columns.[2]
The rest of the house is of two storeys plus an attic,[1] and has four staircases, each one serving what were once free-standing wings prior to the addition of the facade.[2] It is harled, with ashlar detailing.[1] Its interior retains elaborate decorations, including plaster cornices and marble chimneypieces, dating from Robertson's remodelling.[1]
In the grounds is an 18th-century garden house, octagonal in shape with a pyramid roof, which contains a sundial dated to 1661.[3] The grounds are accessed by two gates, which have square ashlar gatepiers with carved ball finials, which are included in the listing for the building.[1]
The house has been praised for its elegance. Architectural historians David Walker and Matthew Woodworth, writing in their Pevsner guidebook on the region, describe it as a "decidedly elegant country villa, and the epitome of summer splendour",[2] while Charles McKean calls it "a delightful courtyard house", and praises its "unusually beautiful, feminine south front".[3]