Description

Attributed to James B Dunn, 1892; James B Dunn, 1910, additions to NW, NE and SW; some later additions to SW. Single-storey and attic, approximately L-plan villa with main entrance to SE, modern extension and conservatory to left, service wing to rear and single-storey scullery outshot from NW (rear) elevation, parallel with main service wing. Mock half-timbering to main elevations, bargeboarded gables, crowstepped dormers to NE and ball-finialled single-storey entrance outshot to SE incorporating canted window to left and forming balcony to upper floor. Bull-faced snecked sandstone with red sandstone ashlar dressings. Basecourse to main elevations.

SE (ENTRANCE) ELEVATION: timber panelled front door at right of entrance outshot, small canopy above door, decorative architrave frame with long quoins cutting across recessed moulding; small leaded light to left of door; 3-light window across canted corner of outshot; raised parapet with ball finials above angles. 2-leaf French door to balcony; gabled quadripartite dormer to left. Slightly advanced stack, breaking eaves to right of outshot. Later single-storey outshot with bipartite window to left of original house; modern conservatory to left.

NE (ROAD) ELEVATION: main house 3 bays to left; advanced 1910 gable to outer left, bipartite mullioned window at ground, quadripartite window above, first floor corbelled out to gable only; gabled, bipartite dormer breaking eaves to right. Service wing to right (not half-timbered) with off-centre timber boarded door and crow-stepped dormers breaking eaves. Bay to outer right built 1910, originally open at ground and supported on columns, filled in later.

SW (GARDEN) ELEVATION: 2 bays. Bay to right with later extension and conservatory (see SE Elevation). Bay to left slightly advanced from original house, 1910; bipartite mullioned window at ground; quadripartite window above.

NW (REAR) ELEVATION: 3 bays with scullery outshot at ground to centre; advanced piended bay to left; irregularly fenestrated. Rear elevation of service wing to left: dormer to inner bay, breaking eaves; irregular fenestration elsewhere.

Predominantly small-pane glazing in timber casements to 1st floor windows; ground floor windows predominantly timber sash and case with small-pane glazing to upper sashes and plate glass or 2-pane glazing to lower sashes. Coped stacks with some red clay cans. Red tile roofs with red ridge tiles.

INTERIOR: entrance lobby with mosaic floor; timber panelling to dado; half-glazed inner door with leaded side-lights. Original fireplaces in dining room and drawing room. Unusual timber panelled interior doors throughout, most with decorative brass door plates.

BOUNDARY WALL AND RAILINGS: coped, squared and snecked sandstone boundary wall, lower to SE with decorative cast-iron railings. Pyramidal-capped gatepiers to the main entrance and plain coped gatepiers to the former service entrance.

Statement of Interest

A large villa, set back from one of the main roads out of Colinton. The dark-red paint on the half-timbering is characteristic of Scottish Arts and Crafts architecture (as opposed to the black paint used in England), and matches the red sandstone dressings. The 1910 additions comprised extending the service wing, extending the large gables to the NE and SW, and enlarging the conservatory on the SW elevation (now replaced by the later extension to which the modern conservatory is attached). The owner of the house was at the time was a Miss Gossip. The original building is attributed to Dunn, since it was he who carried out these alterations.

James B. Dunn was in partneship with James L. Findlay as Dunn and Findlay. Their most well-known building is the Scotsman Building (1902) on the North Bridge, and they also built the Jenners Depository (1925) at Saughtonhall (visible from the North-bound railway line, past Haymarket).

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17805197

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

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  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Cornwall (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes (For Pros By Pros)
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  Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)