Description

Mid 19th century with 1929 interior by Cowie and Seaton (see Notes). 2-storey, 5-bay, gabled Scottish-Rennaissance country house with pedimented dormers breaking eaves. Harled rubble with sandstone ashlar dressings. Chamferred margins. Fleur-de-lys finials surmounting gables. Timber door to curved entrance porch at SE corner re-antrant angle. Regular fenestration to W elevation with advanced outer bays, canted to ground; recessed, 3-bay former servants wing adjoining to N with piend-roofed single-storey outbuilding to far N. Irregular fenestration to (E) elevation.

INTERIOR: mosaic patterned floor to circular entrance porch. Long central spine corridor runs the length of the house. Panelled and beaded timber walls with segmental-arched surrounds to canted windows bays to principal ground floor rooms. Roll-moulded stone fireplace to former 'smoking room'. Octagonal cupola with decorative leadwork above N wing stair.

12-pane timber glazing to timber sash and case windows. Grey slate. Regular arrangement of ridge and end stacks with clay cans. Cast-iron rainwater goods.

Statement of Interest

A good, large gabled and pedimented country house in the Scottish Rennaissance style, particularly notable for its multi-gabled and fleur-de-lys finialled roofscape and its rounded entrance porch with curved timber door and mosaic floor. Situated on sloping ground, the building contributes positively to its rolling landscape setting on the outskirts of Galashiels.

Whitelee is not evident on Crawford and Brooke's 'Map Embracing Extensive Portions of the Counties of Roxburgh, Berwickshire etc..' (1843) and therefore appears to have been built between this publication and the publication of the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map in 1856-9.

The interior of the house was largely destroyed by fire in the 1920s and restored in 1929 for Mr Alexander Wyllie by architect's, M J Cowie and D W Seaton. A complete set of drawings detailing this work are held at the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q77781759

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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  Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Somerset: South and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)