Tarbolton, 18 James Street, Daisy Bank

2-storey and basement, 3 bay piend-roofed classical villa with Doric distyle portico and pilaster quoins to principal elevation. Droved orange sandstone ashlar to front, roughly squared, snecked sandstone to sides and rear, painted ashlar dressings. Base course; ground floor cill course to front only; 1st floor cill course; eaves cornice; blocking course. Doric pilaster quoins to front; quoin-strips to rear; raised window and door margins; consoled cornices to front ground floor windows.

BOUNDARY WALLS AND ANCILLARY BUILDINGS: coped random rubble boundary walls. Corniced gatepiers to James Street (walled up to form smaller pedestrian entrance with timber gate). Ruinous remains of former coach house and stables adjoining boundary wall to N of house.

An excellent example of a late Georgian classical villa. The exterior appears to be virtually unaltered, and although most of the chimneypieces have been removed, the interior has not been altered much either. The house stands with its back to James Street, and is largely hidden by the high wall, but the front, which overlooks the garden, is very prominent from the road to Parkmill.

Daisybank is believed to have been designed by John Patterson for John Stobo, a retired Captain of the Scots Greys. The house is stylistically similar to the nearby Montgomerie House by John Paterson, which was demolished in the 1970s. Montgomerie house was built for the 12th Earl of Eglinton whose son Archibald was a Colonel in the Scots Greys, and therefore presumably acquainted with Stobo.

John Paterson was the Clerk of Works for Edinburgh University and Robert Adam's chief assistant until 1791. After that date he set up practice on his own, and built or extended a considerable number of large country houses in Scotland and the North of England. (Historic Scotland)