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Summary

Description

Henry F Kerr, 1906. 3-storey late Arts and Crafts style house on sloping site with asymmetric gable and prominent swept roof to N; very prominent sandstone stack to W; 3-storey, 5-light polygonal canted window at SW corner; 2-storey timber verandah/balcony and 2 bargeboarded gables to S. Painted render with some red sandstone dressings. Hung tiles between windows of canted bay to SW.

N (ENTRANCE) ELEVATION: stepped elevation, irregularly fenestrated. Asymmetric gable to centre, with roof swept down to right; bracketed canted window at 1st floor. Timber boarded front door in lugged, roll-moulded, red sandstone architrave with 3 semi-circular steps to it in recessed swept-roof bay; flat-roofed, tile-hung dormer above at 1st floor. Narrow single-window bay recessed to outer right. Advanced gable to left of centre with tripartite window at ground and canted window with tile-hung base at 1st floor; steps to basement below; double window to right return. Single-storey scullery outshot to outer left with timber boarded side door.

W (SIDE) ELEVATION: gable end with stack projecting from ground; asymmetrical shouldering with sandstone dressings to 2nd floor; octagonal chanelled and corniced sandstone stack above. 3-storey polygonal canted window to SW corner.

S (PRINCIPAL/GARDEN) ELEVATION: polygonal canted windows advanced to outer left. Advanced gabled bay to right with 2 windows at ground, 5-light window at 1st floor, 4-light window at 2nd floor and decorative plaster rondel to gable apex. 5-bay timber verandah at centre with roofed balcony above; windows and glazed doors to rear of balcony and verandah. Half-timbered gable to right of central section with 2 bipartite windows below at 2nd floor.

E (SIDE) ELEVATION: irregularly fenestrated. 2-storey swept-roof advanced section to right with timber-boarded door to cellar. Advanced, asymmetrically shouldered stack to left. Timber-boarded back door to right of stack. Small half-timbered bargeboarded gable to centre.

Predominantly timber sash and case windows with small-pane glazing in upper sashes and plate glass to lower sashes. Rendered, corniced stacks with some red clay cans. Red tile roof with red ridge tiles. Cast-iron down-pipes with some decorative brackets.

INTERIOR: principal rooms overlook the garden. Timber staircase; square balusters with turned tops; turned, urn-shaped finials to newel posts. Decorative glazing to dining room ceiling. Folding doors between study and drawing room. Some original fireplaces. Housemaids sink on scrolled brackets in service coriddor. Original dresser in butler's pantry. Former laundry room with tripal porcelain sink and timber dresser-base.

BOUNDARY WALL: coped random rubble boundary wall.

STEPS AND TERRACE: steps to garden to NE of house. Garden terrace with random rubble retaining wall.

Statement of Special Interest

A large Edwardian house with many original interior fixtures. Like a number of houses in Colinton (particularly those by Sir Robert Rowand Anderson and Sir Robert Lorimer), the back of the house faces the street, and the main elevation looks onto the garden. The garden elevation of this house, with its unusual double verandah/balcony is very striking, and was probably influenced by American domestic architecture, where such arrangements were not uncommon. Another possible source is the Viceregal Lodge in Simla, by Henry Irvine (1888), which not only has a very similar double balcony with alternate broad and narrow arches, but also a canted turret at the corner. Contemporary colonial buildings such as this would have been made known to British architects by illustrations in periodicals such as The Builder and Building News.

Henry Francis Kerr (1855-1879) had been articled to the architects FT Pilkington and J Bell. He commenced independent practice in 1881, and worked mostly in Edinburgh. This is considered to be the most significant of the 3 houses that he built in Colinton.

This house was built for Mrs Ross Cooper.

New house built in grounds December 2003.

References

Bibliography

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