Balnagowan, 15-17 Murrayfield Drive, Edinburgh

Balnagowan is a late flourishing Arts and Crafts suburban villa located at 15-17 Murrayfield Drive in Edinburgh, designed by Parker and Unwin between 1906 and 1907, with alterations made by A H Motram in 1956. The villa is built on a slope and has a roughly L-shaped plan with asymmetrical elevations. The principal elevation facing south is three storeys high, while the entrance elevation to the north is two storeys with an attic, including a jamb at the east.

The north elevation features narrow rectangular windows arranged in pairs and threes against expanses of blind white wall. The main entrance to No 15 has a boarded two-leaf door with a cast-iron Art Nouveau handle and hinges, set within a recessed, segmental-arched opening. There are pairs of small square windows located below the eaves, and the forestair with block coping at the east was added in 1957.

The south elevation includes a canted bay that rises through three storeys and is characterized by a grid of mullioned and transomed windows that illuminate the hall. Various horizontal groupings of windows are present, with six breaking the eaves on the left (west). To the left of the canted bay, there is a verandah recessed in a three-centred arch, with a screen wall in front that has a pair of segmental-arched openings. The door and glazing behind the screen wall were altered in 1957, along with a door at the far right (east angle) and a ground floor window to the right of the canted bay.

A detached garage block with a piended roof is located to the east, accessed through a pair of planked gates with long strap hinges. The villa features small paned casement windows with top hoppers, grey slate piended roofs that are swept at the eaves, ridge stacks that are lugged at angles beneath thin moulded copes, cylindrical terracotta cans, and cast-iron rainwater goods.

The boundary walls include a tall white-harled wall with pairs of gate piers. The wall is recessed and lowered at No 15, with a geometric entrance arch to No 13 on the left and distinctive wrought-iron gates.