Novar House gathers three centuries of change around a 1720 core, with courts, gardens and later wings expressing the scale of the estate beside Evanton.
Quick facts
- Date
- 1720 core on an earlier site; eighteenth-, nineteenth- and twentieth-century additions
- Architect / designer
- Multiple hands; the canted bays are possibly by John Adam
- Type
- Large U-plan country house with service courts and walled gardens
- Designation
- Listed building, Category B (LB338)
- OS grid reference
- NH 61419 67961
Architecture and continuing use
The harled U-plan house faces south around an inner court. A five-bay centre block rises through two storeys and an attic, flanked by full-height canted bays and long service wings. Crow-stepped gables, hipped and gabled roofs, tall stacks, garden walls and formal gates tie the varied phases into one complex composition.
Its story
The house was built in 1720 on an earlier site that may survive within it. Later eighteenth-century rooms introduced elaborate decorative work, while the wallhead and attic were raised in 1897 and older carved stones reset above windows. A re-sited portico in 1956 shifted the main approach to the inner court. Novar remains a working estate closely connected with Evanton.
Why it is included
It is the area’s most architecturally layered estate house and a focal point for the roads, gates, farms and employment that shaped the settlement’s wider landscape.
What to notice
- The older five-bay centre framed by projecting canted bays.
- Crow-stepped gables and varied rooflines revealing successive additions.
- Walled courts that separate household, service and garden spaces.
Reading the surroundings
Novar House and its gardens are private. Use public routes and the estate’s own current information; do not enter drives, gardens or working areas without permission.
Timeline
- 1720 The principal centre block was built on an older house site.
- Late 18th century Formal rooms and decorative interiors enlarged the residence’s social ambitions.
- 1897 The wallhead and attic were raised and carved stones reset.
- 1956 A porticoed entrance was moved into the inner courtyard.
What we know — and what remains uncertain
Earlier fabric may be embedded in the house, and the attribution of the canted bays to John Adam is tentative. Private interiors were not independently checked.
Sources & further reading
- Historic Environment Scotland: Novar House and Walled Gardens, LB338 — Current designation status, statutory identity, official mapped point, date, fabric and significance.
- Trove: Novar House and Walled Gardens — National collection entry corroborating designation identity, mapped position and related archive material.
- Highland Historic Environment Record: Novar House designation — Local-authority designation cross-reference and mapped extent for Novar House and gardens.
- Novar Estate: history and present-day landscape — Estate account of its long history, present custodianship and working landscape around Evanton.
Location
OS grid reference NH 61419 67961 · Location confidence: High for the current HES designation point; public text separately qualifies the extent of multi-part sites, access and any present-use uncertainty. · Select the marker to open its satellite view in Google Maps. On desktop, drag Pegman (the yellow figure) onto a blue road. On mobile, turn on the Street View layer and tap a blue road. Other photo markers may be user-contributed.
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