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

49 SPYLAW BANK ROAD, ALMORA, WITH BOUNDARY WALL, GATEPIERS, MOTOR HOUSE AND GARDEN TERRACELB29819

Status: Designated

Documents

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Summary

Category
B
Date Added
12/12/1974
Local Authority
Edinburgh
Planning Authority
Edinburgh
Burgh
Edinburgh
NGR
NT 21109 69115
Coordinates
321109, 669115

Description

Sir Robert Lorimer, 1887-99. 2-storey with 3-storey wing to E, irregular-plan English style house with Arts and Crafts details. Central swept-roof porch to N and verandah to S with bracketed eaves and flanking bays; round tower advanced to W; service wing to NE corner. Predominantly bell-cast piended roof with some gables. Cream-painted harl with red sandstone cills and other dressings. 1st floor corbelled out to W. Flat-roofed dormers to attic.

N (ENTRANCE) ELEVATION: swept roof over recessed porch containing timber panelled door in stop-chamfered round arch with 1899 carved onto keystone and rosettes in flanking voussoirs; tripartite window to right with roll-moulded red sandstone mullions; pilaster between door and window with leaf motif to capital. Tripartite dormer above. Piend-roofed 2-storey bay to right with single window to right at 1st floor. Gabled bay to left with tall staircase window. Service wing recessed to outer left; single-storey outshot at ground with piended roof behind coped parapet wall.

W (SIDE) ELEVATION: round tower advanced to centre; single windows at both floors. Stack to left; gable to outer left with tripartite window at ground and bipartite window at 1st floor. Blind wall to right of tower.

S (PRINCIPAL/GARDEN) ELEVATION: central verandah recessed under swept roof. Roof supported at centre with timber Y-shaped post. Tripartite window at rear of verandah to centre; advanced canted bay to right; large dormer to swept roof above. 2-storey piend-roofed bay to left with 5-light window at ground and quadripartite window at 1st floor; half-glazed timber panelled door to right return onto verandah. 3-storey bay to right with canted corner corbelled out at 1st and 2nd floors and asymmetrical jerkin-headed roof; modern sliding doors at ground; quadripartite window at 1st floor; bipartite window to top floor; single window to canted corner at ground.

E (SIDE) ELEVATION: advanced piend-roofed bay to centre with 2 sash and case windows at ground and bipartite casement at 1st floor. Irregularly fenestrated wing recessed to left with dormer at 2nd floor attic. Single-storey scullery slightly recessed to outer right with half-glazed door and flanking windows.

Predominantly timber casements with leaded lights; some 12-pane glazing in timber sash and case windows. Rendered corniced stacks with red clay cans. Red tiled roof. Cast-iron rainwater goods with 1 decorative hopper to W.

INTERIOR: pine staircase with decorative panels between balusters carved with an interlaced floral and vine pattern (see Notes); landing ceiling with deep cornice and vine frieze; decorative plaster vine motifs to corners of ceiling. Stop-chamfered stone fireplace in Drawing Room with thin brick inset and substantial timber (pine?) mantelpiece with integral plate-rack forming over-mantel; tiled hearth with raised stone surround; brass bell to right of fireplace. Semicircular alcove to left of fireplace entered through round arch, with foliate plaster frieze and decorative plasterwork to ceiling comprising "1898", interlaced with foliage and berries. Dining room fireplace with similar brick inset and red sandstone surround; timber mantelpiece incorporating compartmental shelves around fireplace; brass bell to left of fireplace. Polished pine timber panelled interior doors with Lorimer-designed brass door furniture and reeded brass door plates. Cornices to principal rooms. Cast-iron lamp in verandah.

MOTOR HOUSE: harled garage for single car; top-glazed timber-boarded folding doors; red tiled roof.

BOUNDARY WALL, GATEPIERS, GARDEN TERRACE: round-coped random rubble boundary wall. Corniced gatepiers, some with small ball caps. Timber boarded gates with iron studs and pointed arch details. Garden terrace with coped snecked sandstone retaining wall and central flight of 5 stone steps to lawn.

Statement of Special Interest

A delightful house, well positioned to make the most of the awkward shape of its feu. The house is sited and planned so that the principal rooms and main bedrooms face South and overlook the garden, while the rooms used by the servants face North and East, and do not overlook the main garden, thereby making it relatively private. This house is very typical of the style of house that Lorimer built in Colinton, and includes all the standard features that are found in his other houses in the area; round tower; cat-slide roofs over central porch and verandah with flanking bays; jerkin-headed gable; bell-cast roof; 1st floor corbelled out to one elevation; scullery outshot with coped parapet wall; tall staircase window; decorative stonework around the front door; harled walls, sandstone cills; red-tiled roof, and so on. All his houses in this part of Colinton have some of these features, but this is the only house that has them all. It is stylistically most similar to Acharra, Number 3 Spylaw Park, which Lorimer was building in the same year. The exterior is relatively unchanged, the only alteration being the sliding doors on the South elevation (this section of wall was originally blind). It is one of the few houses which has not had its verandah glazed in. The interior is very well detailed. The staircase banisters are particularly noteworthy, and are remarkably similar to some that Lorimer designed for the town house of his friend William Burrell at 8 Great Western Terrace, Glasgow (see Plate G10, British Home of To-Day). The interior plasterwork is also amongst of the most elaborate in Colinton. Lorimer produced designs for the gardens of all the houses he built he built in Colinton, and the garden terrace was part of his plan.

References

Bibliography

Drawings in the NMRS, LOR/E/81/2. Appears on 1908 OS map. William Shaw Sparrow (Ed) THE BRITISH HOME OF TO-DAY (1904), illustration (plan only), A9. Peter Savage, LORIMER AND THE EDINBURGH CRAFT DESIGNERS (1980), p36. 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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