Ratho Park, Edinburgh

Ratho Park is a 2-storey asymmetrical Tudor Revival house designed by William Burn in 1824. It was converted to golf club use in 1928. The building is constructed in ashlar with a base course, string courses, stone hoodmoulds, and an eaves cornice. It features octagonal corner turrets, a stepped battlemented parapet, and shaped pediments.

The entrance front faces east and is asymmetrical, comprising a 4-bay main block with a lower 5-bay block over a raised basement to the right, terminated by a square tower. An advanced entrance tower stands in the third bay, featuring a Tudor arch entrance with double roll moulding and hoodmould, leading to a 2-leaf studded wooden door. A double string course divides the ground and first floors. The right section contains a recessed narrow bay with single lights at ground and first floor, crowned by an octagonal corner turret. To the left of the entrance tower is a bay with windows at both floors. The outer left has a broad projecting bay with Jacobethan shaped gables and a blank escutcheon in the gablehead; this section displays full-height battlemented 5-light projecting windows with punched quatrefoil friezes above, framed by octagonal corner turrets. The lower right wing, over a raised basement, is 4-bays terminated by a slightly advanced taller square tower with stepped battlements. Windows throughout have chamfered reveals and stone mullions, with hoodmoulds at the basement level and taller windows at the first floor.

The south garden elevation is symmetrical, comprising 5 bays overlooking a terrace and former gardens. A full-height canted window projects at the centre beneath a shaped gable with a blank escutcheon. Punched quatrefoil friezes crown each window, framed by octagonal turrets with decorative heads. Tripartite windows are symmetrically disposed in the bays to right and left.

The north elevation adjoins an office court with buildings concentrated on the east side, linked to the west elevation by a boundary wall. The north return of the outer left tower connects via a single-bay link block to a 2-storey, 2-bay block advanced to the right, containing a window and bipartite at ground floor with dormerheads above. A porch with Tudor-arch openings is built into the re-entrant angle. A coursed sandstone wall continues to the right, with a segmental arch entry to the court and a door at the outer right. A truncated octagonal battlemented tower terminates this corner. The interior of the court is bounded on the east by a 2-storey kitchen and office range with dormerhead tripartite windows; single-storey ranges stand against the east and south walls. The rear elevation of the main house displays a stair window with stone mullions and arch arcading at upper level, recessed between the outer left bay and three bays to the right; some modern alteration affects the right section.

The west elevation contains a 4-bay block with a wall surrounding the office court to the left, punctuated by a corner tower. A full-height canted bay at the outer left has a battlemented parapet and shaped pediment. Two narrow bays and a full-height 5-light window occupy the right section. The courtyard wall is pierced by arrowslits at regular intervals. Windows include 6-pane sash and case examples, with horizontal glazing, and plate glass sash and case windows at ground floor on the south and west sides. The roof is grey slate with a piended profile and tall octagonal cans with scalloped caps.

The interior, recorded in 1998, retains distinguished details. The entrance passes through the tower into a symmetrical vestibule; a door to the right leads into a long saloon opening into a well staircase with a balustrade of wrought-iron interlaced hoops and patera detail. The main rooms occupy the south side of the saloon overlooking the terrace; the drawing room and library feature coffered ceilings with octagonal and square compartments. Cornices are simple with egg and dart moulding and Greek-key motifs. The library has carved wooden book-cases on the west wall. Doorcases bear triangular pediments with rinceau friezes. Chimneypieces are of plain black marble. A bathroom on the first floor contains a marble bath in a pilastered timber aedicule.

A rendered boundary wall with curved ashlar coping and simple die surrounds the terrace and garden, some with ball finials. Cast iron gates feature Greek key motifs. Access steps to the garden are at the left hand side; the garden now forms part of the golf course.