A fully restored category C listed historic former fishing lodge with water frontage to Loch Eck and income producing annexe.
Description
Inverchapel Lodge is a distinctive and historic detached country house with well-documented provenance and an interesting past. The house is protected by a category C listing and in recent times it has been subject to a comprehensive programme of upgrading, modernisation and improvement.
Inverchapel Lodge is a detached house with an attached annexe. It is of mainly white painted harled exterior with exposed and tooled smooth ashlar to window mullions, doors and base course. It has distinctive tall chimney head architecture with leaded skews and a slated roof, a proportion of which features replacement sarking with original and reclaimed slates.
Internally the house is freshly presented with principal accommodation laid out over two light and bright and easily managed levels. Inverchapel Lodge has a fully refurbished annexe, originally intended as servants accommodation.
The annexe, in its present form, offers immediate independent income producing short term holiday rental option, or indeed, self-contained extended family living space.
Prospective buyers requiring a larger single footprint home could easily integrate the annexe within the main home.
Historical Note
An extract from Historic Scotland states that Inverchapel Lodge, as well as being a good example of a fishing lodge of the 1920s and published as an exemplary 'Smaller House', was the home of Lord Inverchapel, one of the premier diplomats of the 20th century. Inverchapel Lodge is concealed in trees immediately to the east of the Loch Eck road with a formal garden stretching south.
The initial lodge at Inverchapel was built in 1921-22, the architect was Gerald Wellesley who was the 7th Duke of Wellington. The extract states, t his house, designed as 'A fishing lodge for the accommodation of two or three fishermen and one or two servants' and surviving as the main block, was on a rectangular plan, with two bedrooms, a kitchen and a living room downstairs and three main bedrooms in the dormer storey. Although the chimneystack is central, the fireplaces are not, requiring a complex flue system. The house is three bays wide on the entrance (N) front with a central pedimented doorway containing a decorative semicircular fanlight.
The accommodation soon proved inadequate and in 1923 a servants' wing containing 3 bedrooms was added to the north east corner, in the style of the original house, with the outhouse for the original block forming a link.
Description
Ground Floor
Outer door with central pediment and intricate fanlight, tiled floor reception hallway, stylish
open plan sitting room, dining room, period cornice, exposed pine floorboards, warming log
burner inset to timber fireplace on a slate hearth dining room with fitted bookcases and
white marble fireplace with cast iron Victoriana grate and fender. Door to spacious and well
fitted and integrated kitchen with space for informal dining and breakfasting furniture, understairs store, return door to library, shelved press. Door to rear inner hallway leading to cloaks/wc with contemporary tiling, utility room with red terracotta tile flooring, ceiling pulley, oil fired boiler, door to rear gardens, and door to pantry/larder stores. Library with original bookcase furniture, original stone fireplace with detailed carving, black painted stone hearth, en suite shower room and wc, both with contemporary tiling.
First Floor
Staircase to first floor, general purpose store off upper hallway, access hatch to attic space,
refitted bathroom with contemporary ceramics and velux window, storeroom/possible study or home office, bedroom 1 with dual aspect and eaves space access, bedroom 2 with front facing dormer window and eaves access, bedroom 3 with dormers to side and eaves space access.
Inverchapel Lodge Annexe
Outer door to open plan hallway/sitting room and refitted integrated kitchen, large tile grey ceramic flooring, access hatch to extensive attic, which with the appropriate warrants and consents offers further development potential. Refitted bathroom with large tile ceramic flooring, inner hallway with electrical circuitry, and window to rear, bedroom 1, bedroom 2, dual aspect bedroom 3.
Outbuildings
Box profile steel general purpose shed and garden equipment store set on a concrete base, site of historic garage.
Gardens
Brick built bell mouth entrance and via twin leaf steel gates to tree lined access driveway fronted by buttressed brick wall. The driveway terminates at the house to a gravel surfaced vehicle hardstanding and turning apron. The grounds to the northern side are to semi ancient native woodlands underplanted with rhododendrons and through which run pretty streams. To the rear, steeper grounds are to semi ancient native woodlands underplanted with colourful and some specimen rhododendrons. A gravel terrace is to the front of the house and is supported by a stone built retaining wall. The formal gardens are to the southern side. A central flagstone pathway leads via an ornamental wall and stone steps to a level lawn fringed with mature trees and rhododendrons, and a recently revealed stone pathway which leads to Mercurys pool, a square stone pool structure gathering and displaying the clear hill stream waters together with the pleasant bubbling and babbling sounds as the waters splash and run into the holding pool, overseen by the ornamental mercury figurine at the steps. Gates lead to further semi ancient native woodlands at the southern extremity and to the peaceful woodland site of the former peach and glass houses.
Inverchapel Lodge has ownership of a section of the foreshore of Loch Eck where there are riparian fishing and boating rights. There is a rolling mooring, sandy/gravel foreshore with mixed trees.
Local Authorities
Argyll & Bute Council
Tel: 01546 602127.
Services
Mains water supply, drainage is by new private septic tank, oil fired (new boiler) central heating.
Note: The services have not been checked by the selling agents.
Council Tax
Inverchapel Lodge is in Band F and the amount of council tax payable for 2023/2024 is £2,739.49 excluding drainage.
EPC
EPC rating E.
Situation
Inverchapel Lodge is situated to the southern end of the beautiful freshwater loch of Loch Eck in Argyll & Bute. The house enjoys an elevated position from the A815 and is set in a west facing sylvan setting. From its raised vantage point there are aspects through the trees to Loch Eck and the high sided mountains and glens of Clach Beinn adjacent.
Inverchapel Lodge is set beneath the craggy high top of Beinn Ruadh. It is situated amid some 7 acres of semi ancient native woodlands which are underplanted with rhododendrons and carpets of sphagnum moss and through which run a number of sparkling clear highland streams.
The area can easily be described as typically West Highland with high sided mountains and craggy glens, wildlife abounds and there are frequent sightings of red squirrel, pine martins, red and roe deer and numerous species of raptor.
Inverchapel Lodge is a private and little-known house of the district. While the house is located in delightful rural idyll, it enjoys all associated with rural living and yet remarkably is within only a few moments of the nearest everyday provisions and convenience store as well as quick and easy access to Dunoon and the Western Ferries terminal at Hunters Quay.
Within 3.1 miles is the Cot House service station which incorporates a well-stocked everyday convenience store. Neighbouring Strone has a further provisions store within the tearoom and also has a friendly local pub. The Coylet Inn is a friendly country lochside hostelry only 0.75 miles to the north. Dunoon, 7.5 away, has more extensive facilities as well as a library, hospital, leisure centre and swimming pool. Closer to Inverchapel Lodge is the Dolphin Leisure Centre in Hafton (7 miles ) which forms part of Hunters Quay Holiday Resort.
Greenock, at 14 miles and the Braehead retail village at 34 miles (both via ferry), offer many of the High Street multiple stores.
Loch Eck is situated on the Cowal Peninsula and Glasgow can be accessed by road via the Rest and Be Thankful, a scenic route which allows travel without use of the ferry.
Inverchapel Lodge falls within the catchment area for Sandbank Primary School which, as well as providing mainstream education, has a pre-school nursery and a Gaelic medium school. Free transport is provided to Sandbank Primary from the area surrounding Inverchapel Lodge. There is also a primary school in Strone and primary and secondary schooling in Dunoon. Some children in the area attend the independent school of St Columbas in Kilmacolm and a private bus service is in operation from Gourock.
Set on the fringe of the National Park and the Argyll Forest, Inverchapel Lodge is close to the Kilmun Arboretum and a few minutes drive from Benmore Botanic Gardens, famous for its towering California redwoods. Inverchapel Lodge is set at the southern end of the stunning beauty of the freshwater Loch Eck.
Salmon and sea trout run the nearby River Eachaig. Cot House Clay Pigeon shooting club is 3 miles distant and opportunities to stalk, as well as rough and commercial low ground shooting are also available locally.
As with most parts of Scotland, one is never too far from a golf course and Dunoon is no exception, the district having three challenging courses.
The thriving Holy Loch Marina is about 5.4 miles to the south of Inverchapel Lodge where there are berthing and chandlery facilities.
Travel Directions
From Glasgow city centre leave in a westerly direction on the M8 motorway. Continue for 21 miles to arrive at Port Glasgow. Follow signs Greenock and Gourock on the A770 for 8 miles to reach the Western Ferry terminal at McInroys Point. Take the ferry to Hunters Quay Dunoon. Leave the terminal and turn right on the A815 through Sandbank. After the junction in Sandbank, proceed in a northerly direction on the A815 for 5.3 to find the bell mouth entrance to Inverchapel Lodge on the right hand side. What 3 Words reference: splashes.tall.birdcage
