61 Fountainhall Road, Edinburgh

This is a substantial, two-storey Italianate villa with a basement, dating from around 1878. Originally a single residence, it has been subdivided and is located at 63-65 Fountainhall Road, Edinburgh. The villa is built of squared and snecked bull-faced sandstone with polished ashlar dressings.

The north (entrance) elevation is dominated by a central, four-stage entrance tower. The ground floor features a segmental-arched doorway framed by nook-shafted pilasters, blank armorial tablets, a foliate cornice, and a rectangular crenellated parapet. Above the door is a plate glass fanlight. A bipartite window sits above the entrance at the first floor. The towerhead breaks the eaves and incorporates small bipartite windows to the north and east at the second floor. Tripartite windows are found at the third floor, with a timber bracketed cornice supporting a fish-scale French roof with scalloped flashing, wrought-iron brattishing, and a weathervane finial. To the outer left is a bipartite window at ground floor, with a single window above that breaks the eaves in a dormerhead. To the right is a tripartite window at ground floor, a bipartite window at first floor, and a pointed-arched window in the gablehead.

A service wing, built in a similar style, is recessed to the outer left of the main house. There’s a secondary entrance in the centre bay, flanked by bipartite windows at ground floor, and further single windows breaking the eaves in dormerheads at the first floor.

The east elevation has the service wing along the ground floor. The west elevation features two single windows and a conservatory attached at the principal floor, with a single window in the gablehead.

The south elevation has steps with a decorative pierced stone balustrade leading to a conservatory situated to the outer left. An advanced bay to the outer left features canted windows at basement and principal floors, corbelled to square, and a tripartite window with chamfered angles at the first floor. A pointed-arched window is visible in the gablehead. A further advanced bay on the right has canted windows with stone coping and wrought-iron brattishing at basement and principal floors; a bipartite and single window are at the first floor, breaking the eaves in dormerheads. A service wing adjoins the outer right.

The villa has plate glass sash and case windows and a grey-green slate gabled roof. There are two shouldered and corniced gablehead stacks, and a canted and pedimented dormer on the south elevation.

The interiors were not inspected in 1990.

The property is bounded by high coped rubble walls, lower at the front onto Fountainhall Road. Garages are located to the east.