St Leonard's Hall, 18 Holyrood Park Road, Edinburgh

St Leonard's Hall, 18 Holyrood Park Road, Edinburgh

A 2-storey mansion with basement and attic, designed by John Lessels between 1869 and 1870. The building is a fine example of Scottish Baronial architecture, constructed in squared and snecked cream sandstone rubble with polished ashlar dressings. It features a distinctive 4-stage tower with cap-house.

The west elevation presents a 4-bay entrance block to the left with a tower at the south-west angle. The entrance itself is reached by steps leading to a doorway in an advanced bay, with a finely carved porch at ground level incorporating a round-arched doorway with cable moulding to its architrave and entablature. Flanking carved panels and heraldic lions ornament the entrance. Above this, a 3-light canted oriel window to the first floor features a carved parapet, while a single pedimented window sits within a crowstepped gable above. A 2-stage bartizan with heraldic carving stands to the immediate left at eaves level, topped by a cast-iron finial to a conical roof. To the right of the entrance block, single bays feature bipartite windows at ground level with blank inscription panels above, single pedimented windows to the first floor, and pedimented dormers to the attic, with small windows to upper storeys and cast-iron finials to crowstepped gables.

The tower rises from a base course with cill courses to first-floor windows. Its elevations include architraves to first and second-floor windows with blank inscription panels between them, and an eaves course with corbels supporting a crenellated parapet. The ground floor has two single windows, with single windows to the first and second floors above, and two small windows to the third floor. A circular bartizan projects at the south-west angle, while crowstepped gables and pedimented dormers crown the cap-house above the parapet.

The south elevation displays a 3-bay arrangement with the tower to the outer left. A 4-stage circular-plan tower rises at the south-east angle. The central bay contains a tripartite window at ground level with a bipartite window above to the first floor and a small attic window, all beneath a crowstepped gable. A bay to the outer left holds twin bipartite windows at ground level with 3-light bowed windows to the first and second floors above, topped by a crowstepped gable. A circular bartizan to the right carries heraldic carving at eaves level and a cast-iron finial to its conical roof. To the outer right, a full-height advanced canted bay features bipartite windows to each face and a carved parapet above forming a balcony to a pedimented attic window, with a crowstepped gable. The circular tower at the south-east angle has single windows to each floor and machicolations at eaves level.

The east elevation contains a 3-bay arrangement with the circular tower to the south. The central bay is recessed, featuring a bipartite window at ground level and a pierced balcony to a tripartite first-floor window above. An advanced 4-light full-height window occupies the outer left bay, with steps and terrace serving the ground-floor windows. A single round-arched window to the attic carries heraldic carving to its architrave and is topped by a cast-iron finial to a crowstepped gable. The outer right bay contains a full-height advanced canted window with bipartite windows to its central face and a single pedimented window above, finished with a cast-iron finial to a crowstepped gable.

The north elevation shows a 3-bay composition with a deeply recessed central bay. Tripartite windows serve the basement, ground, and first floors of this central bay, with a carved roundel above the first-floor window. An engaged 4-stage circular tower projects to the right, decorated with heraldic carving at eaves and a cast-iron finial to its conical roof. The bay to the outer left has bipartite windows to the basement and to the ground and first floors, with a blank inscription panel above the first-floor window, and circular bartizans at the east and west angles beneath a crowstepped gable. The outer right bay presents a blank gable wall with a blank inscription panel to the first floor and an advanced chimney stack at wall head. It contains a single window to the first floor and attic, heraldic carving to the eaves course, and a circular bartizan at the east angle topped by a cast-iron finial to a conical roof.

Windows throughout are 2-pane timber sash and case. Grey slate roofs with coped wallhead stacks, predominantly featuring octagonal flues, complete the exterior.

The interior is exceptionally fine, retaining many original features. The principal ground-floor rooms feature panelling, panelled doors with lugged architraves, carved fireplaces, and richly decorated cornices and ceilings, possibly executed by Thomas Bonnar in olive green, gold, and red. The main staircase is richly carved with fruit, foliage, heraldic beasts, and classical figures; the stair hall is currently under restoration. Notable interior features include original library bookcases with leaded glass panels within the Admissions Office, a heavily carved and mirrored sideboard formerly part of the original dining room (now the General Office), and an elaborately carved fireplace in the Accounts Office with a romantic landscape painting to its overmantel.

A high rubble boundary wall surrounds the estate.