Description

James Miller, 1905-7. Large 3-storey and double attic symmetrical Queen Anne style hotel, additions to rear and sides. Cream harl; some squared and snecked red sandstone rubble to rear (surviving from earlier Starforth building, 1881, destroyed by fire, see NOTES). Deep dentilled eaves cornice.

S (FRONT) ELEVATION: 11-bay main block with 3-bay projecting pavilions; regular fenestration. Main block with central projecting gabled entrance bay, substantial square advanced porte-cochere with twinned Tuscan columns on panelled pedestals and semi-circular glass dome.

2 storeys with balustraded balconies and canted glazed bays above, keystoned bull's-eye window to gablehead. Flanking bays with projecting

segmental-arched loggia at ground floor carrying walkway at 1st floor (now glazed-in). Pavilions with 2-storey canted and glazed projections to outer bays, Venetian windows to centre and divided by embossed bronzed aprons. 2 tiers of pedimented attic dormers (except lower tier to main block).

W ELEVATION: rectangular-plan 2-storey 5-bay dining room annexe; tall wiwindows at 1st floor to S; blank canted projection to E. To N (REAR) 5-bay 3-storey sandstone block (only surviving part of former hotel) with 2-storey bowed projection to centre.

E ELEVATION: 10-bay. 2-storey 5-bay modern extension with glazed link.

INTERIOR: good period interiors. Most notably Bannockburn Room (only surviving interior from previous building) with panelled dado, Baronial plaster ceiling with pendants and impressive full-scale mural of Battle of Bannockburn (former Panorama exhibit, painted by Ernst Philipp Fleischer, circa 1888). Ball room to rear with elaborate plasterwork, Ionic pilasters and cartouche, segmental proscenium arc to stage and

barrel-vaulted ceiling with large multi-pane skylight. Dining room

with shallow pilaster to walls with volute capitals and deeply dentilled compartmentalised ceiling.

Broad axial terraced steps leading to lawns below hotel, with fountain and urns.

Originally multi-pane cross casement windows, now partially replaced. Steeply pitched rosemary tiled piend and platformed roof. Harled stacks.

Statement of Interest

The present hotel replaces an earlier structure of 1881, a red sandstone Baronial effort by John Starforth which was destroyed by fire in 1905. The gate lodge (listed separately) and stables were once part of a matching ensemble. Compares closely with Miller's Turnberry Hotel of 1904.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Peebles Hydro at Wikipedia
• Peebles Hydro official website
• Wikidata IDs Q17845663 Q7160140

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

• 
  Warwickshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Development and Design of Heritage Sensitive Sites: Strategies for Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas
• 
  The Listed Buildings and Other Principal Structures at the Royal Gunpowder Mills Waltham Abbey
• 
  Nottinghamshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair by Hunt. Roger ( 2008 ) Hardcover