Documents

There are no additional online documents for this record.

Summary

Description

Sir Robert Smirke, 1817, Greek-style neo-classical mansion, with William Burn, 1827, additions of superimposed base course, balustrade, pilasters flanking centre bays to front and rear, additional floors to service

court and N pavilion; further alterations 1881, including filling of garden front portico as bow window, addition of garden balustrade and canted bays interweaved through entrance portico; John Farquharson of Haddington, 1896, addition of glazed 1st floor, pentice-roofed corridor by service court. Sub-divided, 1988. 2-storey, attic and basement. Ashlar Cullalo sandstone, with squared red and cream rubble to the service court basement. 1st floor cill course, moulded cornice, balustraded parapet with dies. Architraved windows with cornice to principal floors.

NE (ENTRANCE) ELEVATION: main block symmetrical 9-bay; tripartite fluted Doric portico with full classical entablature; 2-leaf door with flanking windows inserted and extending beyond portico into canted bays across

original windows. Attic storey above 3 centre bays. Tripartites to centre bay windows, flanked by broad pilasters. Single windows to each floor in remaining bays, taller to ground floor. 3 additional ground floor bays to outer right, with balustrade, linking with tripartite, fluted Doric columned and pedimented single storey and basement pavilion, 3-bays deep, with blind windows to centre and left.

SW (GARDEN) ELEVATION: symmetrical 9-bay with attic storey over centre 7 bays. Bowed window (former loggia) to ground floor at centre, with flight of steps and balustraded parapet; tripartite windows to centre bay with flanking pilasters as above. Single windows to each floor of 3-bays flanking centre; slightly advanced outer bays with segmentally arched panels at ground with tripartite windows, French windows to outer right bay; tripartite 1st floor windows to outer bays. Blind arcaded

curtain wall of 5-bays extending to outer left, with doorway to service court, linking with tripartite and pedimented temple fronted garden pavilion, advanced to far left.

NW ELEVATION: U-plan service court to right with 2-storey, 3-bay piend-roofed building to outer right abacking garden pavilion on higher ground. 7 irregular bays to left, 2-storey and basement, Cullalo ashlar to tallest upper storey; blind windows and doorways blocked as windows.

SE ELEVATION: 3-bay, symmetrical elevation stepped. Advanced centre balustraded bay to ground floor with segmental panel and tripartite window; recessed bays to 1st and attic floor set back behind centre and outer bays; outer balustraded bays advanced to a lesser degree than centre bay, at ground and 1st floor, with single windows. Small-pane glazing to sash and case windows, with plate glass to ground floor windows of garden front. Grey slates. Moulded coping to roof stacks.

INTERIOR: high ceilings, large rooms, especially to ground floor, including 2nd library and Drawing Room among the work by Burn. Alterations by Thackeray Turner and Eustace Balfour circa 1910, and recently for school purposes, the latter largely reversed in conversion to flats, 1987-88. Stairwell with cantilevered stone stair, decorative cast-iron railings with gilded anthemion; triple arcade of round-arched niches with ornate classical corbels at 1st floor landing level. Marble chimneypieces; decorative plaster ceilings. Round-arched sections to

cross-axial corridor of main floor.

TERRACE WALLS: circa 1881. Cream ashlar sandstone balustrades, with dies and steps, to S, SE and SW of house.

SUNDIAL: sited by SW elevation. Sundial itself is missing. Stepped octagonal ashlar base with panelled octagonal pedestal, supporting 8 polished, black granite columns and frieze with inscription taken from Omar Khayyam (Lo the bird is on the wing and lo the bird has little way to fly), below octagonal table top.

Statement of Special Interest

Built for James Balfour who purchased the estate in 1817. Sold in 1963, when it became a school. Double row of circa 600 trees lining the Lime Tree Avenue (never intended to serve as the drive, which runs to W). Lodges, stables, and Joiner's Cottage, listed separately.

References

Bibliography

About Listed Buildings

Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.

We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.

Listing is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for buildings of special architectural or historic interest as set out in the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997.

We list buildings which are found to be of special architectural or historic interest using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)

Listed building records provide an indication of the special architectural or historic interest of the listed building which has been identified by its statutory address. The description and additional information provided are supplementary and have no legal weight.

These records are not definitive historical accounts or a complete description of the building(s). If part of a building is not described it does not mean it is not listed. The format of the listed building record has changed over time. Earlier records may be brief and some information will not have been recorded.

The legal part of the listing is the address/name of site which is known as the statutory address. Other than the name or address of a listed building, further details are provided for information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland does not accept any liability for any loss or damage suffered as a consequence of inaccuracies in the information provided. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing. Even if a number or name is missing from a listing address it will still be listed. Listing covers both the exterior and the interior and any object or structure fixed to the building. Listing also applies to buildings or structures not physically attached but which are part of the curtilage (or land) of the listed building as long as they were erected before 1 July 1948.

While Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating listed buildings, the planning authority is responsible for determining what is covered by the listing, including what is listed through curtilage. However, for listed buildings designated or for listings amended from 1 October 2015, legal exclusions to the listing may apply.

If part of a building is not listed, it will say that it is excluded in the statutory address and in the statement of special interest in the listed building record. The statement will use the word 'excluding' and quote the relevant section of the 1997 Act. Some earlier listed building records may use the word 'excluding', but if the Act is not quoted, the record has not been revised to reflect subsequent legislation.

Listed building consent is required for changes to a listed building which affect its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest. The relevant planning authority is the point of contact for applications for listed building consent.

Find out more about listing and our other designations at www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support. You can contact us on 0131 668 8914 or at designations@hes.scot.