Listed Building

The only legal part of the listing under the Planning (Listing Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 is the address/name of site. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing – see 'About Listed Buildings' below for more information. The further details below the 'Address/Name of Site' are provided for information purposes only.

Address/Name of Site

ROSEHALL HOUSE AND WALLED GARDENLB275

Status: Designated

Documents

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Summary

Category
B
Date Added
18/03/1971
Local Authority
Highland
Planning Authority
Highland
Parish
Creich (Highland)
NGR
NC 47487 1585
Coordinates
247487, 901585

Description

1818-25, dated 1822 but probably incorporating earlier fabric, 'improvements' by Alexander Ross, 1873 (see Notes). Symmetrical 2-storey 7-bay classical mansion with projecting 2-storey and single storey rear wings forming shallow U-plan, partly infilled with later servant's passage additions. Unique notable late 1920s interior scheme designed by Coco Chanel (see Notes). Coursed grey and pink freestone with honey-coloured Moray sandstone dressings. Ribbon pointing. Deep eaves. In poor repair (2006).

SOUTH (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: slightly advanced central 5-bay block with central wide corniced doorpiece with 4-panel timber 2-leaf door with rectangular margined fanlight above and flanked by narrow sidelights between paired Roman Doric pilasters. Above, blind 1st floor window with datestone above. Wide open pediment with deep bracketed soffits spans central 3 bays.

Predominantly 16- and 24-pane timber sash and case windows. Corniced end, lateral and ridge stacks. Slate roofs.

INTERIOR: simple classical interior with Chanel scheme. Wide entrance hall flanked by pair of large well-proportioned reception rooms with 6-panel 2-leaf timber doors, timber dado and simple cornices. That to right with Ionic columned recess, that to left with simpler Doric pilastered recess. Some lesser rooms stripped to stone walls due to dry rot. Barrel-vaulted gun room with metal door and barred window, former kitchen with cast-iron range, both to West wing.

Chanel scheme: very simple, throughout principal rooms. Hessian-textured wallpaper painted shades of beige with matt darker buff/beige coloured paintwork. Stage-set style simple (buff/beige) painted timber chimneypieces, some original cast-iron grates, some brick/tile replacements. First floor room with hand-blocked French floral wallpaper. Some bathrooms painted green. Early Shanks bidet to first floor bathroom to W (see Notes).

WALLED GARDEN: immediately to E of house, rubble walls with flat coping. Incorporating to W pair of mirrored L-plan single storey and loft ancillary buildings with steeply pitched roofs with pointed arch windows facing garden.

Statement of Special Interest

A good example of a simple classical mansion house with a unique interior scheme by the internationally renowned fashion designer Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel (1883-1971).

Rosehall was built for Richard Dunning, 2nd Lord Ashburton (1782-1823). He bought Rosehall Estate in 1806 and the house burnt down in May 1817. It was replaced with this classical house which Beaton notes is in the style of William Robertson. Ashburton linked Rosehall with the River Oykel by a no longer extant canal and used it to ship the Moray stone for the dressings. It is likely that the present Rosehall incorporates some fabric from the former house, such as the West wing with its barrel vaulted ceiling. The work undertaken by Ross in 1873 probably included adding further servants' quarters parallel to the rear of the house. The previous list description notes that there are underground passages below the house, with entrances in the retaining walls, to accommodate a footpath which formerly passed in front of the South elevation.

Rosehall was acquired by Hugh Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster (1879-1953), in the late 1920s. At this time, Chanel was his mistress. Although he only owned Rosehall for a very short time (possibly as few as 2 years) the interior was not to Chanel's liking and she redecorated it in her celebrated chic style. The striking simplicity, with shades of beige and basic replacement chimneypieces in painted timber, would have been significantly radical for its time. This is the only known house in Scotland with an interior by Chanel and its survival is remarkable. Beige was a colour which Chanel frequently used in her interiors, such as her office door at the famous Rue Cambon Chanel showrooms in Paris and the sofa in her apartment on the second floor. Local knowledge had suggested that the house contained the first bidet in Scotland, installed as part of Chanel's scheme, however this seems unlikely as bidet's were being manufactured in Scotland from the early 1900s. This particular model appears to feature in Shank's 1912 catalogue, albeit produced for the French market.

The house has been uninhabited since 1967 and is now (2006) in poor condition with extensive dry rot. Much of the beige wallpaper is peeling away from the wall.

References

Bibliography

Imperial Gazetteer of Scotland (circa 1858) ii, p660-1. 1st edition Ordnance Survey map (1868-75). Shanks Catalogue, Shanks and Co Ltd. Appareils Sanitaires, Tubal Works et Victorian Poteries, Barrhead (1912); E Beaton, RIAS Guide, Sutherland (1995), p20-1. F Baudot Chanel (2003). www.buildingsatrisk.org.uk . www.scottisharchitects.org.uk . Further information courtesy of former owner.

About Listed Buildings

Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.

We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.

Listing is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for buildings of special architectural or historic interest as set out in the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997.

We list buildings which are found to be of special architectural or historic interest using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)

Listed building records provide an indication of the special architectural or historic interest of the listed building which has been identified by its statutory address. The description and additional information provided are supplementary and have no legal weight.

These records are not definitive historical accounts or a complete description of the building(s). If part of a building is not described it does not mean it is not listed. The format of the listed building record has changed over time. Earlier records may be brief and some information will not have been recorded.

The legal part of the listing is the address/name of site which is known as the statutory address. Other than the name or address of a listed building, further details are provided for information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland does not accept any liability for any loss or damage suffered as a consequence of inaccuracies in the information provided. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing. Even if a number or name is missing from a listing address it will still be listed. Listing covers both the exterior and the interior and any object or structure fixed to the building. Listing also applies to buildings or structures not physically attached but which are part of the curtilage (or land) of the listed building as long as they were erected before 1 July 1948.

While Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating listed buildings, the planning authority is responsible for determining what is covered by the listing, including what is listed through curtilage. However, for listed buildings designated or for listings amended from 1 October 2015, legal exclusions to the listing may apply.

If part of a building is not listed, it will say that it is excluded in the statutory address and in the statement of special interest in the listed building record. The statement will use the word 'excluding' and quote the relevant section of the 1997 Act. Some earlier listed building records may use the word 'excluding', but if the Act is not quoted, the record has not been revised to reflect subsequent legislation.

Listed building consent is required for changes to a listed building which affect its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest. The relevant planning authority is the point of contact for applications for listed building consent.

Find out more about listing and our other designations at www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support. You can contact us on 0131 668 8914 or at designations@hes.scot.

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Printed: 29/03/2024 09:52