Listed Building

The only legal part of the listing under the Planning (Listing Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 is the address/name of site. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing – see 'About Listed Buildings' below for more information. The further details below the 'Address/Name of Site' are provided for information purposes only.

Address/Name of Site

15 WOODHALL ROAD, ALLERMUIR, WITH BOUNDARY WALL AND GATE PIERSLB29948

Status: Designated

Documents

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Summary

Category
A
Date Added
14/12/1970
Local Authority
Edinburgh
Planning Authority
Edinburgh
Burgh
Edinburgh
NGR
NT 21456 68854
Coordinates
321456, 668854

Description

Sir Robert Rowand Anderson (for himself) 1879 with 1906 additions (see Notes). 2-storey and attic, asymmetrical Scots Jacobean house. Multi-gabled with crowsteps and tall stacks; single-storey balustraded entrance lobby to E; 2-storey canted bay to S. Bull-faced snecked sandstone, rake-jointed in some places, with polished ashlar dressings. Relieving arches above some windows on all elevations.

W (ENTRANCE) ELEVATION: blind gable with gablehead stack to right. Slightly advanced, single-storey balustraded lobby to centre; timber panelled door in roll-moulded architrave frame; ADSIT DEUS carved into lintel. Chamfered leaded fanlight above lintel flanked by monogram RRA 1879, all within bracket-shaped roll-moulding; small dentiled pediment above. Tall window flanking door to left. String course and eaves cornice below balustrade. 3-storey gable rising behind lobby with tall staircase window and small window to gable apex. Bipartite piended-roof dormer to left; various single-storey offices below.

S (PRINCIPAL/GARDEN) ELEVATION: 4-bay; slightly advanced 2-bay gabled section to right with gablehead stack. 2-storey, piend-roofed canted bay to right, slightly corbelled out at first floor. Small off-centre window to attic of gable. Advanced corbelled window with piended dormer-roof breaking eaves at 1st floor to outer left. Regular fenestration in central bays.

E (SIDE) ELEVATION: slightly advanced shouldered stack to outer left. Large bracketed box window at 1st floor to centre (1920s addition); gable-headed dormer above. Slightly advanced gable to right; piend-roofed L-shaped service outshot to ground with timber panelled back door; 2 windows to outer right.

N ELEVATION: forward-facing gable to left; irregularly fenestrated with corbelled bipartite mullioned window at 1st floor; half glazed timber panelled back door to centre in roll-moulded surround with leaded fanlight above lintel. Service annex to right.

Predominantly 12-pane glazing in timber sash andcase windows. Cast-iron down-pipes with fairly plain hoppers. Tall corniced and coped stacks with decorative clay cans. Red tiled roof with red ridge tiles.

INTERIOR: large lobby panelled to dado with fully glazed inner door and black and white marble tiles. Inner and outer entrance halls fully panelled with Columbian pine; compartmented ceilings; corner fireplace to inner hall with roll-moulded stone chimney-piece and glazed display cupboard above. Morning room: cast-iron grate with decorative rondel, roll moulded red sandstone surround, timber mantelshelf and overmantel; flanking display shelves; all within timber panelled arched recess (see Notes). Dining Room fully panelled in Columbian pine; cross-beamed ceiling; canted window bay with shutters; moulded stone fireplace with tile insets and pedimented timber mantleshelf; small mirrored inset between scrolled brackets. Columbian pine staircase, panelled to dado with 2 arches at stair head; compartmented ceiling; turned baluster rails and carved hand-rail. Fully panelled landing. Upstairs drawing room fully panelled in Columbian pine with compartmented ceiling; white marble fire-surround with delft tile inset and dentiled timber mantelshelf; bevelled plate glass mirror above; canted bay window behind semicircular arch. Timber panelled doors throughout.

BOUNDARY WALL AND GATE PIERS: low ashlar-coped rubble boundary wall with pyramidal-capped ashlar gate piers. Plain wrought-iron gates.

Statement of Special Interest

A particularly interesting house with a magnificent and very well detailed interior. Sam McKinstry notes the similarity of this house to the East range of Pinkie House, Musselburgh. The fireplaces with (Delft) tile insets, moulded stone surrounds and timber mantelshelves are very similar to ones in various Old Town townhouses, such as Moubray House (seventeenth century). The fireplace recess in the Morning Room was originally flanked by bookcases, but they were allegedly moved to Anderson?s townhouse which was left to the RIAS in his Will. The Entrance Lobby and adjoining cloakroom were added by Anderson in 1906. The planning of the house is particularly significant, as it probably influenced the planning of a number of later Arts and Crafts houses in Colinton. The house is placed to the North of its site, so that the principal rooms, which are on the South, to get the full benefit of the sun and good views of the Pentland Hills, look over the main part of the garden. The entrance of the house is to the side, on the West elevation, the service rooms face North towards the road, and the bedrooms face East. This arrangement reflected contemporary notions of planning, and was not particularly innovative, but the influence of Rowand Anderson over many of the other architects who built houses in Colinton was very great (see below), and this arrangement where a house has its back to the road, and its principal elevation overlooking the garden is very common in Colinton.

Sir Robert Rowand Anderson was the one of the most eminent Edinburgh architect of his generation, and the first Scot to win the RIBA Gold Medal. Amongst his more famous buildings are The Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh University Medical School and The McEwan Hall, all in Edinburgh, and Mount Stuart on Bute, for the Marquis of Bute. The opening of the railway in 1874 made it inevitable that Colinton would become a commuter suburb, but Anderson was largely responsible for it becoming a fashionable suburb, as he was one of the first and principal feuers of land from James Gillespie's Hospital. He started in 1877, building the double villa at 11-13 Woodhall Road, then in 1879 he built Allermuir and 2 Barnshot Road, next door. In the 1880s and 1890s he built a number of houses at the Northern end of Barnshot Road, and also developed several more feus along Woodhall Road. Many of his former pupils and assistants also worked in Colinton. The most notable, and most prolific of these was Sir Robert Lorimer, who built at least 12 houses to the South of The Water of Leith, as well as Rustic Cottages and Laverockdale House on the North side. Other architects include Balfour Paul (Sir William Fraser Homes, 52 Spylaw Bank Road, Partner); William Kininmonth and Basil Spence (6 Castlelaw Road, assistants to Balfour Paul); Frank Simon and Alexander Hunter Crawford (Dunalistair, Dreghorn Loan, former assistants); Sydney Mitchell (St Cuthbert's Church, Dell Road, former pupil); A L McGibbon (5-17 Spylaw Street, former pupil); and James Jerdan & Son (houses in Spylaw Park, James Jerdan was a former assistant).

References

Bibliography

Appears on 1894 OS map. Dean of Guild plans for entrance lobby addition, August 1906. Gifford, McWilliam & Walker, BUILDINGS OF SCOTLAND: EDINBURGH (1988), p520. McKinstry, ROWAND ANDERSON (1991), p86-88. Glendinning, MacInnes & MacKechnie, A HISTORY OF SCOTTISH ARCHITECTURE, pp336-7.

About Listed Buildings

Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.

We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.

Listing is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for buildings of special architectural or historic interest as set out in the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997.

We list buildings which are found to be of special architectural or historic interest using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)

Listed building records provide an indication of the special architectural or historic interest of the listed building which has been identified by its statutory address. The description and additional information provided are supplementary and have no legal weight.

These records are not definitive historical accounts or a complete description of the building(s). If part of a building is not described it does not mean it is not listed. The format of the listed building record has changed over time. Earlier records may be brief and some information will not have been recorded.

The legal part of the listing is the address/name of site which is known as the statutory address. Other than the name or address of a listed building, further details are provided for information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland does not accept any liability for any loss or damage suffered as a consequence of inaccuracies in the information provided. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing. Even if a number or name is missing from a listing address it will still be listed. Listing covers both the exterior and the interior and any object or structure fixed to the building. Listing also applies to buildings or structures not physically attached but which are part of the curtilage (or land) of the listed building as long as they were erected before 1 July 1948.

While Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating listed buildings, the planning authority is responsible for determining what is covered by the listing, including what is listed through curtilage. However, for listed buildings designated or for listings amended from 1 October 2015, legal exclusions to the listing may apply.

If part of a building is not listed, it will say that it is excluded in the statutory address and in the statement of special interest in the listed building record. The statement will use the word 'excluding' and quote the relevant section of the 1997 Act. Some earlier listed building records may use the word 'excluding', but if the Act is not quoted, the record has not been revised to reflect subsequent legislation.

Listed building consent is required for changes to a listed building which affect its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest. The relevant planning authority is the point of contact for applications for listed building consent.

Find out more about listing and our other designations at www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support. You can contact us on 0131 668 8914 or at designations@hes.scot.

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Printed: 29/03/2024 00:01