Boundary Wall And Gate-Piers, Hartfell, 10 Spylaw Park, Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Edinburgh

Description

Sir Robert Lorimer, 1899 and 1905-9. 2-storey and attic, roughly T-plan house with entrance forecourt to N, M-gable over front door, round turret to SE corner, large conical turret and recessed verandah to centre of S elevation, irregularly fenestrated W elevation, single-storey service wing to N and bell-cast piended roofs. Reddish-brown sandstone rubble with red sandstone ashlar window cills. Some sections jettied out at 1st floor.

ENTRANCE FORECOURT (N AND E ELEVATIONS): M-gabled entrance. Timber panelled front door in roll-moulded sandstone frame; deep corniced lintel continuing over flanking windows with carved decoration of flowers and date, 1899. Windows above; recessed section to left. Irregularly fenestrated wing advanced to right. E elevation of wing: shaped dormer at 1st floor and flat-roofed dormer to attic. Single-storey service wing with piended roof behind coped parapet wall to right; circa 1909 section containing garage to outer right. Very asymmetrical gable to N elevation of 2-storey section; crowstepped to left rising to prominent shouldered gablehead stack; small window and pitched roof to right of stack.

E (SIDE) ELEVATION: asymmetric gable to right with small window at 1st floor; round turret with conical roof advanced to left with jettied-out 1st floor and dormer with shaped pediment.

S (PRINCIPAL/GARDEN) ELEVATION: slightly stepped elevation. Broad round turret with conical roof, jettied out at 1st floor; 3 windows at 1st and 2nd floors; pedimented dormer to attic. 3-window section to right, jettied out at 1st floor; shaped dormer; turret to outer right with single window at ground and dormer with shaped pediment at 1st floor. 1906 section to left of central turret (see Notes); recessed swept-roof verandah with tripartite window to rear, glazed door to side, and bipartite dormer above; advanced piend-roofed bay to outer left with tripartite window under relieving arch at ground and bipartite dormer with piended roof above.

W (SIDE) ELEVATION: stepped elevation, irregularly fenestrated. 1906 wing to outer right with large shouldered wallhead stack; N return with wide, shallow window under relieving arch at ground; bipartite piend-roofed dormer above. Recessed section to centre with tall staircase window and irregular fenestration. Advanced jerkin-headed bay to left with paired windows at ground and single window above. Single-storey service wing to outer left with irregular fenestration and timber boarded back door.

Predominantly 12- and 9-pane glazing in timber sash and case windows. Tall coped stacks with yellow clay cans. Red tile roof.

INTERIOR: principal rooms face South, and overlook the garden, while the service wing faces East and West, and overlooks the entrance forecourt and drying green. Tiled lobby with half-glazed timber panelled inner door. Rest of house not seen 2003. However, detailed plans in the NMRS show timber panelled staircase with turned balusters rising to upper floor; decorative plasterwork in hall and over dining room fireplace; roll-moulded sandstone dining room fireplace with separate mantelshelf corbelled out above and cupboards and shelves flanking chimney breast; lugged timber chimney piece in drawing room with marble insets, cast-iron grate and separate mantelshelf corbelled out above. Timber chimney pieces in former smoking room, and bedroom over drawing room with small shelves up sides and cast-iron grates.

OUTBUILDING: Pre1914. Single-storey, rectangular-plan outbuilding (possibly garaging) with bell-cast piended roof and deep eaves.

STABLE AND COACH HOUSE: 1899. Single-storey and attic with bell-cast piended roof, swept down to S forming tool shed; hayloft entrance in shaped dormer, flat-roofed dormer to rear. 2-leaf timber boarded door to coach house; arched stable entrance to right; half-glazed timber boarded door to hayloft above.

BOUNDARY WALL AND GATEPIERS: round-coped snecked rubble boundary wall. Sandstone ashlar gatepiers with roll-moulded corners and stepped caps. Timber boarded gates.

Statement of Interest

It was not possible to make a proper inspection of this property, and the list description has been drawn up from the sources listed above. From the exterior this house is one of the most exceptional that Lorimer built in Colinton, and the original plans suggest that the interior is also outstanding. Very little alteration seems to have taken place, other that the addition of the SW wing, which Lorimer intended from the beginning (it is shown in outline on the 1899 plans), and the garage which was added to the service wing by the builder John Angus in 1909. The stables and gardener's cottage were designed by Lorimer, and are therefore of some importance in their own right. The house was designed for W Walker Esq. and the builder was Nathaniel Grieve, who built most of the other Lorimer houses in Colinton. The SW wing and gardener?s cottage were built in 1906 for A Drysdale Esq, who had recently purchased the house. Like 1 Pentland Avenue, this house was originally intended to be harled, but never was. 10 Spylaw Park was originally called Dilkusha, and was renamed Hartfell by Mr Drysdale.

External Links

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