The house sits behind a screen wall and comprises a collection of buildings built in two phases and in three ranges around an enclosed courtyard. All show the fine architectural detail befitting the home of the Dukes of Argyll. Argyll's Lodging The Courtyard Conversion and extension of an existing sixteenth century towerhouse began in the 1630s for the Earl of Stirling and further enlargement was undertaken in the 1670s for the Ninth Earl of Argyll. Argyll's Lodging shows considerable French influence. The turrets sited at each corner of the house overlooking the courtyard have conical roofs typical of French provincial townhouses.
Visitors enter the complex through an archway from the road into the courtyard.
This is much as it would have been in the 1670s. A grand doorway marks the entrance to the most important reception room of the house. Twenty-first Century visitors enter through the Historic Scotland shop to the right of the front arch and are led through static and multimedia displays on the history of the house, its setting and its past residents. On your visit you may also encounter actors helping bring the past to life as they recount the story of the building and the people who made their lives here. In the 1630s the Laigh Hall, or lower dining room, was one of two such rooms used by the Earl of Stirling.