Northfield, 550 Lanark Road West, Balerno

Northfield, 550 Lanark Road West, Balerno

A 2-storey and attic Scottish Arts and Crafts house designed by Walter Crum Watson and dated 1910. The building is of rambling plan with grey harl over brick, dressed with red sandstone; it features shaped, pedimented red sandstone dormerheads and an eaves cornice.

The west (entrance) elevation presents five asymmetrical bays. A tall M-gable is advanced to the outer left, with a recessed 2-bay entrance block to the outer right. The door sits in the lower penultimate bay to the left, set within an ashlar plinth and a red sandstone roll-moulded surround. Above the door is a datestone and monogrammed plaque with bracketed scrolls, cornucopia, and a Star of David monogram bearing the initials W W C. A coloured glazed tiled inset of the Madonna della Catene is set into the wall above the door, depicting the Madonna and Child being crowned by angels and crushing a snake underfoot, with an anchor emblem. A broad window at ground level and a dormerheaded window above light the space to the left of the door. A tall 2-bay gable occupies the outer right, with windows symmetrically disposed at ground and first-floor levels and a single narrow window at the gablehead. A tall 2-bay M-gable is advanced to the outer left, with windows symmetrically disposed from ground to attic floor on the right bay and a single window at the gablehead of the outer left bay. A 2-bay right return features windows symmetrically disposed with dormerheads, and a broad wallhead stack immediately to the right of the inner bay.

The south elevation displays six asymmetrical bays. An advanced broad 2-bay gable occupies the outer right, with windows symmetrically disposed (those at first floor being larger) and a small Renaissance niche at the gablehead. Two tall windows lighting the hall sit in bays at principal floor to the left, with a small window at ground level beneath the outer left window. A dormerhead is positioned at centre, above a blank ground floor, with a window at ground to the left. A recessed and slightly taller outer left bay, which forms the right return of the outer right bay of the main elevation, has windows symmetrically disposed at ground and first-floor levels.

The east elevation comprises a 3-bay main block with a 4-bay asymmetrical jamb recessed to the outer right. A full-height canted bay at centre features a blocking course and roll-moulded string course, with three windows at ground level and five at first floor. Flanking windows are symmetrically disposed at ground level, with a single window to the outer left at first floor. A 3-bay right return includes a broad gable to the left and a 2-bay single storey and attic block to the right. An oriel with a sandstone corbel and half-domed lead roof sits at the centre of the gable; a small window is positioned at ground outer left. A single storey block to the outer right has a steep swept roof, two windows at ground level, a square tripartite slate-hung dormer, and a narrow window at the corner. A tall jamb of 2 bays with a 2-bay single storey over raised storage occupies the outer right. A narrow inner left bay has windows symmetrically disposed and a half-piended dormerhead. A bowed bay to the outer right contains symmetrically disposed windows. A low 2-bay block at ground outer left has two windows at first floor grouped to the right. A door at ground level gives access at the gable, and a forestair to the outer right leads to the rear.

The north (rear) elevation presents a 3-bay asymmetrical block with a single storey over raised basement service block advanced to the outer left, forming a rear court. The W elevation of the service block contains three bays of a door and two windows, with timber ridge ventilators. A 3-bay main block occupies the outer right; a chimney breast and flue are positioned off-centre to the right with two symmetrical bays to the left, while the outer right bay is blank. A flat-roofed, cement-rendered boilerhouse sits at ground level of the flue.

The building is roofed in Birnam green slate with lead flashings and swept ashlar skews at the gables. Windows throughout are 12-pane, 24-pane and 30-pane sash and case windows.

The interior was not seen in 1993.

A gardener's cottage stands to the northwest of the main house. It is a single storey, square-plan Arts and Crafts building with very steep pyramidal roof and low walls. The cottage is constructed of grey harl with sandstone margins and dressings. The south elevation presents three symmetrical bays; a low door breaking the eaves at centre has two leaves with an upper glazed panel, flanked by full-height windows breaking the eaves at mid-point with pedimented gables. The west and east elevations each have two swept windows breaking the eaves. Two greenhouses stand immediately to the right of the west elevation. The cottage features 12-pane sash and case windows, a green slate roof of very steep pitch (giving it an appearance reminiscent of a maltings house), and a tall harled and coped apex stack.

The garden is well-maintained with mature hedges and designed features contemporary with the building of the house; formal planting occupies the east side.

Red sandstone gatepiers with ashlar caps are positioned to the west of the house against the M-gable, leading from the entrance front to the rear of the building. A loosely constructed red sandstone rubble wall runs from the pier to the right, becoming a low wall in front of the main elevation of the gardener's cottage.