Listed Building

The only legal part of the listing under the Planning (Listing Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 is the address/name of site. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing – see 'About Listed Buildings' below for more information. The further details below the 'Address/Name of Site' are provided for information purposes only.

Address/Name of Site

4 SPYLAW AVENUE, WITH BOUNDARY WALL, GATES, GATEPIERS AND GARAGELB29806

Status: Designated

Documents

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Summary

Category
B
Date Added
19/12/1979
Local Authority
Edinburgh
Planning Authority
Edinburgh
Burgh
Edinburgh
NGR
NT 20847 69100
Coordinates
320847, 669100

Description

Dunn and Findlay, 1902. 2-storey, square-plan Voysey-inspired Arts and Crafts house with single-storey swept piend-roofed service wing to NE corner, gables to S with balcony between; canted windows to E and W; deeply recessed windows; deep bracketed eaves and later greenhouse to NW. Cream-painted harling with brown sandstone coping and red sandstone doorpiece. Flat-roofed dormers to service wing. Platform skewputts to gables.

EAST (ENTRANCE) ELEVATION: 2-leaf timber panelled elliptical-arched front door in arched, chamfered, corniced architrave. 4-light canted window with battered base to left, tripartite window above. Service wing advanced to outer right with dormer to E and 2 windows below; arched entrance to S return to interior courtyard, bipartite window to left. Broad, shouldered wall-head stack to main house above service wing.

S (PRINCIPAL/GARDEN) ELEVATION: 3 bays, symmetrical. Advanced gables to outer bays; quadripartite windows at both floors. Recessed section to centre with balcony to centre; tripartite window at ground; half-glazed door with flanking windows to first floor; timber railings to balcony.

W (SIDE) ELEVATION: 5-light canted window with battered base to right; tripartite window above; tripartite windows at both floors to left.

N (REAR) ELEVATION: stepped composition, irregularly fenestrated. Gable to outer right with bipartite window at 1st-floor; timber and glass greenhouse with brick base at ground, outshot to W; original timber shelves with cast-iron legs in greenhouse. Irregularly fenestrated section to left with tall staircase window. Advanced gable to centre with modern French doors at ground and tripartite window above. Advanced service wing to outer left with dormer to attic, windows below; timber boarded back door to right return.

Predominantly timber casements with leaded lights. Harled corniced shouldered stacks. Red tiled roof with plain terracotta ridge tiles. Cast-iron down-pipes with decorative hoppers.

INTERIOR: half-glazed timber panelled door to lobby. Large inner hall through arch; timber chimneypiece with decorative cast-iron grate. Staircase through arch with fretwork balusters. Original fireplaces in study and dining room with timber chimneypieces and cast-iron grates. Original fireplaces in bedrooms, 1 with delft-tile insets. Original double sink in scullery. Game larder with slate shelf.

GARAGE: late 1930s or 1950s, harled garage with 2-leaf timber boarded doors and red tile, bell-cast piended roof.

BOUNDARY WALL AND GATEPIERS: round-coped random rubble boundary wall; red sandstone ashlar gatepiers with pyramidal caps.

Statement of Special Interest

A very stylish and well-planned house built for Johnstone C Wright Esq. This house is unusual for Colinton in being very little altered. The only alterations that seem to have taken place, are the modern French doors to the kitchen (replacing a tripartite window), and the greenhouse to the rear, which was possibly intended from the start, and is shown on the 1908 OS map. The house is situated towards the North end of its plot, although there is space for a kitchen garden behind it. The principal rooms face South over the main garden, except the dining room, which looks West, to catch the evening sun. The drawing room, which would have been used mostly in the afternoon and evening, also has a West facing window, and the morning room has an East facing window. The service rooms face North, and are arranged so that they do not overlook the main part of the garden, thereby keeping it relatively private. The influence of Voysey, then at the height of his career, is very noticeable, especially in the rows of recessed leaded lights, and the battered bases of the canted bays. The arrangement of the staircase rising out of an archway was also a common device of Voysey's, and is to be found in several Colinton houses of this period, including numbers 4 and 17 Barnshot Road, both by Rowand Anderson. The firm of Dunn and Findlay was one of the more prominent architectural firms in Edinburgh during this period, and specialised in middle-class domestic housing in suburbs such as Colinton, and burghs such as North Berwick. James Bow Dunn did most of the work, and James Leslie Findlay, (son of John R Findlay, the proprietor of the Scotsman) concentrated on the social side of things. Among their more noticeable buildings are the Scotsman Offices on the South Bridge (1902), and Jenners Depository (1925). In Colinton, Dunn also built Sherwood, 28 Redford Road.

References

Bibliography

Midlothian Dean of Guild plans, November 1902, in Edinburgh City Archive. Shown on 1908 (resurveyed 1905) OS map. Gifford, McWilliam and Walker, BUILDINGS OF SCOTLAND: EDINBURGH, p521.

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.

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