The Rowans, 21 Pentland Avenue, Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Edinburgh

Description

Sir Robert Lorimer, 1901 with additions and alterations George D MacNiven, 1912; Alexander A Foote, 1929; and circa 1985. 2-storey and attic, roughly Z-plan Art and Crafts house with jerkin-headed gable to N, entrance turret and swept porch to W, advanced piend-roofed bay and 1929 square tower with ball-finialled pavilion roof to S; 1912 single-storey and attic garage (converted to granny-flat circa 1985) forming wing to NE. Pink-painted harled sandstone with red sandstone cills and other dressings; rake-jointed snecked sandstone under porch.

N (ROAD) ELEVATION: irregularly fenestrated. Jerkin-headed gable to right; later timber panelled service door at ground with plate glass fanlight and wrought-iron over-door lamp; irregular fenestration to 2 storeys above. Piended roof section to centre (roof raised in 1912). Former garage (now granny flat) slightly advanced to left with timber panelled door and circa 1985 4-light flat-roofed dormer.

W (ENTRANCE) ELEVATION: piend-roofed section with advanced 2-storey turret to centre; timber panelled front door in roll-moulded surround to right return under swept-roofed porch to right of turret; 3-light window to rear of porch. Advanced gable to outer right jettied out at first floor with advanced chimney breast at ground to centre; wallhead stack to left of gable apex. Irregular fenestration; 1st floor window with decoratively carved deep lintel.

S (PRINCIPAL/GARDEN) ELEVATION: altered 1929 (see Notes). Advanced 2-storey bay to centre with 4-light window and glazed door at ground and 6-light window to 1st floor (see Notes). Regular fenestration in flanking bays. 1929 square tower to right with canted corner at ground corbelled to square at 1st floor. Sandstone ledges clasping outer corners at 1st floor cill level.

E (SIDE) ELEVATION: considerably altered and irregularly fenestrated. Tall staircase window to centre; 1929 flat-roofed dormer above. Asymmetric gable to left with tall off-centre stack. Square pavilion-roofed tower to outer left with canted corners corbelled to square at 1st floor (see above). Small 1912 M-glable to right of staircase window (see Notes); long outshot to outer right (see below)

S ELEVATION OF OUTSHOT: 2-storey section to left with quadripartite windows at both floors (roof raised 1912, See Notes). 1912 single-storey former garage to outer right with large 1980s flat-roofed dormer to attic.

Predominantly timber casements with leaded lights; some 6-pane glazing in timber sash and case windows. Rendered corniced and coped stacks with tall red clay cans. Red tile roof. Cast-iron downpipes with some decorative hoppers.

INTERIOR: bowed entrance vestibule with decorative cornice and window with wiggly leaded glazing. Original chimneypiece in sitting room with sandstone inset and original brass fender. Dining room with alcove. Staircase with plain timber banister, large leaded window, plaster plaques (some original, some later). Main bedroom with coved ceiling and later plaster plaques. Upstairs drawing room with coved ceiling, deep cornice, and original decorative plasterwork. Bathroom (circa 1912); large cast-iron bath with very decorative feet; old cream tiles. Spare bedroom with incised decorative plaster frieze (not Lorimer). Secondary bedroom fireplace; timber mantelpiece with shelves down sides, sandstone inset and decorative cast-iron grate with swivelling kettle stand. Timber panelled doors throughout with brass Lorimer handles. Many early brass light switches with decorative detailing.

Statement of Interest

B-Group with numbers 23, 40 and 42 Pentland Avenue, 3 Spylaw Avenue and 21 Gillespie Road (21 Gillespie Road is in Baberton Ward). Formerly called Brackendale. Despite the numerous alterations, this is a good example of Lorimer's later and larger Colinton houses. The interior planning is very good like the other houses that Lorimer built in Colinton, this house is sited and planned so that the principal living rooms face South and overlook the main part of the garden. The bedrooms face East and West, thereby benefiting from either the morning or evening sun, and the service rooms are in the North part of the house, overlooking the street, so that the garden is relatively private. The kitchen also has a window to the West, so that visitors can be seen as they arrive, and also so that the servants can enjoy the afternoon sun. However, the kitchen is shaded from the hot SW sun by the entrance turret. This is the only Lorimer house in Colinton to have coved ceilings, and the upstairs drawing room is also very unusual. The interior has survived well, although some of the fireplaces in the principal rooms are replacements. The house was built for Miss Guthrie Wright, who lived next door at Pentland Cottage. Mr Forsyth of Forsyth's department store on Princes Street (now TopShop) lived here with his eccentric German housekeeper between about 1953 and the mid-1970s.

Substantial alterations were carried out in 1912 and 1929. In 1912 the garage was built, the adjacent block had its roof raised to create a larger bedroom in the attic, and the M-gable to the East was also built in order to enlarge the bathroom windows, which had previously been wedged under the eaves. The large bay to the South had originally projected from the main house equally on both sides with the ground floor forming an open verandah, and the upper floor slightly over-hung and accessible from the garden by way of a sturdy timber step-ladder. The verandah was closed in before 1912. In 1929 the wall to the right of the bay was extended forward, and the square tower was built. The attic dormer over the staircase window was also inserted in 1929.

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