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Summary

Description

Sir Robert Lorimer, 1893-4 and 1896; some later additions. Predominantly 2-storey, stepped double L-plan house with English Arts and Crafts features and some traditional Scots detailing. Stable and service wing to NE, main body of house to SW. Stair turret to N, adjacent to front door; swept-roof verandah between piended bays to S. Cream painted harl over sandstone rubble; sandstone ashlar cills.

N (ENTRANCE) ELEVATION: stepped frontage composed of piend-roofed bay with single window to centre; deeply recessed entrance elevation with conical turret to right; single-storey link with depressed-arch entrance to left; single-storey and attic piend-roofed former coach house and stable advanced to outer left. Half-glazed timber panelled front door in simple roll-moulded architrave with 1893 inscribed on lintel and original brass bell; small window to left; flat-roofed porch above with carved decoration; later half-glazed door with mini-pediment to porch roof. Advanced stair turret to right of door with tall staircase window. 2-window section to right. W return of central piended section with tripartite casement and small slit-window at ground, tripartite flat-roofed dormer to attic. 2 bays to W return of former stable: 2-leaf timber boarded coach house door to left, later flat-roofed dormer above; depressed arch entrance with sandstone margins and later recessed timber boarded door to right, half-glazed timber hayloft door above.

W (SIDE) ELEVATION: gable to left with lean-to ingleneuk at ground, prominent off-centre stack above; bipartite casement at 1st floor to left of stack. Piended section to right with single bipartite casement at ground.

S (PRINCIPAL/GARDEN) ELEVATION: swept-roof verandah (now glazed in) to centre with bowed window at rear and half-glazed timber panelled door to left; 6-light flat-roofed dormer above. Advanced jerkin-headed bay to left, jettied out at 1st floor with 5-light window at ground and 4-light window at 1st floor. Piend-roofed bay to right (1st floor is later addition ? see Notes) with deep eaves; single window at ground, and large 5-light window at 1st floor with hung tiles below.

E (SIDE) ELEVATION: irregularly fenestrated. Asymmetric gable to left; later lean-to addition to centre; 1896 flat-roofed kitchen extension with coped parapet wall, ball-finial and modern glazed doors; dormered casement above. Irregularly fenestrated link wing and stable advanced to outer right. S elevation of stable with piended roof rising to small gable with false dovecot openings and weather-cock above. Advanced wallhead stack to E elevation of stable; later dormers and small hopper windows at ground.

Predominantly timber casements with leaded glazing. Some timber sash and case windows with small-pane glazing. Rendered stacks with red sandstone copes and tall red clay cans. Red tiles with red ridge tiles. Iron boot-scraper by front door.

INTERIOR: timber panelling to hall. Drawing room with corner timber chimneypiece (later marble inset), working shutters to windows and bookshelves flanking main window. 2-leaf door between drawing room and dining room. Advanced chimney breast in dining room with flanking cupboards; roll-moulded sandstone chimneypiece with narrow timber outer frame and decorative cast-iron grate; separate mantelshelf above and over-mantel frame. Panelled ingleneuk in study with corner chimney piece. Staircase with shaped flat balusters; pilasters and original plaster boss at top of staircase. Timber chimney-pieces with cast-iron grates in all bedrooms. Slate shelf in larder.

BOUNDARY WALL: coped random rubble boundary wall with timber gates.

Statement of Special Interest

B-Group with numbers 21, 40 and 42 Pentland Avenue, 3 Spylaw Avenue and 21 Gillespie Road (21 Gillespie Road is in Baberton Ward). Despite being relatively plain, this house is of particular interest, because it was the first house that Lorimer built in Colinton, and he re-used many of the stylistic features of this house on the other houses that he built in Colinton (of which there are 12 just on this side of the Water of Leith). The most notable of these details are the conical tower, and the swept-roof verandah facing the garden. There are also a number of less obvious features, both inside and out, such as the horizontal proportions, irregular shaped plan, with service wing to the East, and large garden to the South and West, the casements with leaded lights, the double doors between the dining and drawing rooms, the simple fireplaces with roll-moulded sandstone insets, and cupboards flanking the chimney breast in the dining room. All these features are to be found in most of the other houses that Lorimer built in this part of Colinton. The planning of the house is very typical of the period, and makes the most of a steep and irregularly shaped site. The principal rooms face S and overlook the garden, while the service rooms face principally East and North. The kitchen has a window facing the entrance of the house, so that the arrival of visitors can be seen. It is important to note that Lorimer not only designed the house, but also laid out the garden.

This house was built for Miss Guthrie Wright, who is believed to have been Lorimer's aunt. Lorimer also built the 3 neighbouring houses for Miss Guthrie Wright, numbers 21, 40 and 42 Pentland Avenue. In her will Miss Guthrie-Wright left this house as a home for the nurses of the Queen's Nursing Institute, which was founded in 1889.

Several alterations were made to the house, after it was built, the most significant of which was the addition, in the early 20th century, of the piended bay at the right of the South elevation. This was originally partially open at the first floor, forming a kind of upstairs verandah, but was glazed in in the 1990s. Plans in the NMRS show that the firm of Dick Peddie and McKay made alterations to the bathroom in the 1960s, but this work did not really involve any structural alterations.

References

Bibliography

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