A Brief History of Argyll House
Argyll House has a long and interesting history, and has been a prominent house within the village throughout the years. It was constructed over 4 centuries in 5 distinct phases.
It began as a small, stone cottage known as Burnt House Yards and was owned by John Knights. He recorded it in his will as newly built in 1749. This cottage still remains and is now our snug and a cosy, upstairs bedroom. We spent many months painstakingly repairing the external stone wall in the summer of 2020 when we first arrived.
In 1831 the middle section of the house was constructed by William Salter which formed the shop and enlarged the house.
An extension to the front, right of the house was built by William in 1857, and this became the post office. An extension was then built to the front left of the house forming a garage which then became a lounge with the garage door becoming a gorgeous picture window which looks out over the village.
In the 1950s the house was bought by Donald MacGlip, on his death in 1963, his wife Mary converted the shop into a self-contained flat and the rest of the house into a guest house. We bought the property in July 2020, and have spent the last 10 months renovating it.
It has been a long journey, but a very rewarding one. We have also been very fortunate to have been given the complete, original documentation of the house, from its beginning in 1749 all the way through to our purchase in 2020. It is very rare to have such complete documentation for a house and we are happy to share this with guests on request. It makes for a fascinating read.