The land on which Greenbank stands was originally owned by the Duke of Argyll and transfered as 'Ardgoil' to the Ardkinglas estate in 1710. The remainder of Ardgoil was gifted to the nation in 1905.

The stone plaque found in the wall at the back of the garden during renovations, probably records the date (1848) that building began, under a feu granted by the Duke of Argyll. The land was subsequently bought for the princely sum of £8, 0 shillings and 8d by Frederick Small in 1851. He had built two houses, Greenbank cottage and Hillside and sold these to two sisters Margaret and Jane Telfer in 1855. Written records show that in 1895 Greenbank was sold for £300 at a public roup (auction) in Glasgow and divided into 2 dwellings with the upper floor let, furnished, to a Mrs Ferguson. Since 1896 there have been only 12 owners. However, the house has changed name several times being renamed Sweethope in 1920 by the Forsyth family and The Killick in 1973 by the Burges family. The house was returned to its original name when bought for £17 000 by the Workman family in March 1979. They lived here for 33 years before selling to us in June 2012 for a considerably larger sum! The Workman family, the longest ever owners, installed the current staircase to replace outside steps which provided access to the first floor flat; the central double window on the half way landing was formed from the original upper flat door opening when the villa was converted into a single dwelling. Greenbank, described as a little altered example of the local villa architecture, was listed as a Grade C Scotland historical building in May 2006.


Since June 2012 we have changed the layout of downstairs rooms to restore the kitchen to within the original building, making one room from two smaller ones. We have opened up an original chimney which had been hidden by a modern wall for many years and installed the log burner. As a consequence, we relocated the downstairs bathroom to the north side of the house and, at the same time, added two en-suite bathrooms upstairs.

The Ardgoil peninsular has for centuries been known as Argyll's Bowling Green. This curious phrase has nothing to do with bowling greens but is a corruption of the Gaelic: Baile na Greine. This translates to 'Sunny Hamlet', and where that idea came from is anybody's guess.