Den O' Gryffe

One of a number of houses in Kilmacolm designed by James Salmon (1873-1924), Den o’ Gryffe began as little more than a cottage, simple in its rectangular plan form but evidently in thrall to the cosy domestic ambience made fashionable by the English Arts & Crafts movement. The tell-tale elements were all engrossed – long raking roofs of red rosemary tiles, wide eaves, rendered walls, small vertical casements gathered in horizontal groupings, a verandah, even rustic water butts. Not long after completion, however, the house changed hands. Additional bedrooms and a nursery were needed and these Salmon added in the form of a two-storey octagon connected to the original house by a boldly half-timbered link. This new octagonal wing is uncompromisingly austere and sculptural with pyramidal roof slopes rising to a central chimney stack.