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Summary

Description

William Burn and David Bryce, 1844. 2-storey Scots Baronial mansion. Roughly square-plan with lower 2-storey L-plan wing abutting SE corner. Tooled, squared and coursed cream snadstone with ashlar dressings.

Base, and eaves courses, corbelled at 1st floor; single, bipartite windows and dormerheaded windows with chamfered reveals, crowstepped gables moulded on their outer edge, corbelled squared angle turrets with finialled fishscale slate piended roof.

E (ENTRANCE) ELEVATION: M-gabled bays joined at eaves by narrow balustraded parapet; squared angle turret to right; taller corbelled circular stair turret to left with finialled conical roof, fishscale slates, (recessed service wing to left see below). Fine Renaissance doorcase to outer right with lugged architrave, moulded keystone and frieze, ornately consoled cornice, 2-leaf panelled door, window at 1st floor with small bipartite gablehead window. Tripartite window at ground to left with 1st floor detailed as above.

N ELEVATION: 3 bays; advanced squared and corniced tripartite window to centre, blocking course with armorial crest and finialled corner pinnacles; 2 finialled dormerheads above. Flanked by canted windows at ground corbelled to square at 1st floor with wondow and gablehead window.

W ELEVATION: large single storey bowed conservatory at centre, 8-lights and doorway with stone mullions flanked by advanced tripartite corniced windows with coped blocking course and ball finials to conservatory and to corncers. Single dormerhead above to window at centre flanked by gabled bays with window at 1st floor and gabled bays with window at 1st floor and gablehead window. Square angle turrets.

S ELEVATION: asymmetrical; 2 windows at ground to left with window at 1st floor to right set in taller bay with lop-sided gable with gablehead window and with linked corniced and coped stack breaking gable to right. Recessed gabled bay to right with tripartite stair window with wooden mullions abutted by single storey gabled bay with bipartite window. (Service wing joined at right angles to right see below.)

SERVICE WING: asymmetrical roughly L-plan block with single windows to ground and 1st floor to gabled bays and dormerheaded windows to 1st floor. Link to house with 2 windows at ground and dormerheaded window above; joined at right angles to 2 bays, taller advanced gabled bay to left, bipartite window with dormerhead above to right. Gabled return with apex stack, door to left. Joined to wing at right angles with modern glazing at ground, dormerheaded windows above. 4 asymmetrical bays on return; 2 recessed bays at centre with door to left, bipartite dormerheaded windows above, flanked by advanced gabled bays, slapping at ground to left. Return to S with advanced gabled bay to centre. Gableh Gablehead return to W. Recessed courtyard to left. 2 gabled bays to S elevation, gabled return to W, slapping at ground to left.

Horizontal panes to large sash and case windows at ground, smaller have 12-pane sash and case windows. grey slate roofs with fishscale conical and pyramidal roofs to turrets with swept eaves, broad corniced and coped sandstone stacks, beak skewputts.

INTERIOR: Jacobean slim ribbed ceiling to hall; corniced rooms. Marble chimneypieces. Library has fitted bookcase with ornate decorated tops.

SCREEN WALL DIVIDING ENTRANCE COURT FROM SERVICE COURT: cream ashlar; arcade on low coped wall with gateway with stone strapwork decoration to overthrow. Round-headed carriage-arch to left (covered by creeper) with ball finials and ashlar birdcage bellcote over.

Statement of Special Interest

Designed for Alexander Seton by Burns and Bryce there also exists an unexecuted Italianate design for Preston House by Thomas Brown dated 1844. C McWilliam noted that the house had Bryce's favourate bay-windows canted below and then corbelled out to the square under crowstpped gables on the N elevation. He also refers to the square corner turrets "in Pinkie style" referring to Pinkie House,

Musselburgh which has 1825 additions by William Burn. Interestingly Pinkie had been acquired in 1597 by an Alexander Seton (later first Earl of Dunfermline) whose name is inscribed on the house. The conservatory on the W elevation of Preston House is an unexecuted plan for Falkland House designed by William Burn 1839-1844. The strairhall originally had stained glass, dated 1845 which is still in the possession of the owner. Preston House lodge with gates and gatepiers is listed below.

References

Bibliography

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