M002 Alterations to Camis Eskan, Craigendoran

The mansion of Camis Eskan was built in 1648, and remodelled in 1840 by David Hamilton for Colin Campbell of Breadalbane. 1 John Honeyman, and later John Honeyman & Keppie and Honeyman, Keppie & Mackintosh, were employed there on a number of occasions, but none of their drawings appears to survive, and it is not clear from the practice job books exactly what they did. A major remodelling by A. N. Paterson in 1915, followed by conversion to apartments in 1979, has further complicated the picture. 2

Honeyman had already carried out work costing almost £300 for the owner, William Middleton Campbell, in 1886–8, including repairs to a staircase and alterations to a window in the harness room. 3 In March 1889, John Honeyman & Keppie completed further unspecified alterations, involving both mason work and slater work. 4 The following summer, and again in May 1891, they incurred minor expenses, probably for site visits. 5 The May 1891 visit seems to have been in connection with work carried out by the contractor Alexander Miller, for which he was paid £34 15s 9d that month (including £10 6s 0d for a mantelpiece for Mrs Campbell). 6

Honeyman visited again in September 1894, and received instructions from Campbell about further alterations, and later that month Mackintosh and Donald M. Stoddart went to the house to take measurements. 7 Sketches were submitted to the client, including plans of the ground floor and servants' accommodation on the first-floor, as well as details of proposed panelling in the billiard room and cupboards in the dining room, and in December tenders were received for mason, wright, slater, plaster and plumber work. 8 There is little detail in the job book about what work was done, and it is not clear if any building was actually carried out until 1896, when Miller received payments in September amounting to almost £1000. 9 In 2000, the interior was said to retain decoration from its 1840 and 1915 phases, but photographs show nothing that obviously dates from the 1890s. 10

In January 1914, the practice obtained tenders for re-roofing. 11 Although the job book does not record any corresponding payments to contractors, the practice received fees of £35 in connection with Camis Eskan at the end of the month. 12