Offices, Caroline Park House, Caroline Park Avenue, Edinburgh

Caroline Park House, Edinburgh

This is a substantial mansion that began as a circa 1585 house and underwent major remodelling between 1683 and 1696, with a further significant addition when William Adam added the north-west range in 1740-41. The building is grade A listed.

The main block is arranged on a quadrangular plan with a wing adjoining to the north-west. It presents a sophisticated classical design: 2 storeys with attics on the south side, featuring projecting ogee-roofed pavilions and an open porch to the principal south elevation. The north elevation is distinguished by a balustraded parapet with flanking Dutch-style curvilinear gables with scrolled skewputts. Prominent gablehead and wallhead chimneys run throughout the building.

The principal south elevation is constructed in sandstone ashlar; all other elevations are harled except for the courtyard side and the east side of the north-west range, which are rubble. Ashlar dressings, including architraves to most openings, are employed throughout, with coped skews to gables.

The south elevation features a central entrance with an open porch supported on a pair of Doric columns. The timber door is set in a moulded architrave and has a decorative wrought-iron balustrade incorporating a monogram, which forms a balcony above the doorway. The porch pediment carries a pulvinated frieze and sun finial. The entrance and two flanking bays project slightly forward and are flanked by a pair of banded giant pilasters with alternating pulvinated bands; these project upward into piended ogee roofs surmounted by semicircular pedimented dormers corbelled from the wallhead. The frieze above the lintel is inscribed with the date 1696. Ball finials flank the pediment, with a carved burning mountain motif—part of the Tarbat coat of arms—above. Two bays on either side of this central section (with the ground floor windows to the left blocked) link to projecting pavilions topped by piended ogee roofs surmounted by square slate-hung cupolas with metal bellcast pyramid caps and ball finials. Low doors (now blocked) with moulded architraves are set to the re-entrant angles, each with a small pendant to the middle of the lintel. Projecting quoins mark the angles. A projecting base course runs across the entire facade, carved with primitive floral and abstract designs and including rockfaced blocks that possibly suggest a rusticated basement. Moulded friezes inscribed "ANNE VICOUNTES TARBAT" and "GEORGE VICOUNT TARBAT" run along the left and right pavilions respectively.

The north elevation has a central entrance with a moulded architrave, cornice, and panelled timber door. Three flanking bays flank this entrance; the outermost pair on each side are surmounted by Dutch-style curvilinear stepped gables with scrolled skewputts. Small windows (now blocked) occupy the upper gables, while a stone balustrade runs between them. A carved panel with a scrolled frame to the centre bears a Latin inscription dated 1685. A single window, a later insertion, appears to the ground floor between the second and third bays to the right of the entrance.

The east elevation is characterised by the pavilion of the south elevation projecting slightly to form a bay to the far left. Small openings appear to the right of windows on the first and second floors; a dormer window addresses the piended ogee roof. A 2-bay gable end (slightly stepped on one side) appears to the right, with a single small attic window. An entrance lies to the left of the ground floor. A lower section to the right is divided into two double bays and two single bays by coursed stone buttresses.

The west elevation features the pavilion of the south elevation forming a bay to the far right, with a dormer window to the piended ogee roof. Two lower bays with a lean-to roof (a gable end behind) appear to the left; these adjoin a slightly higher 6-bay section with an entrance to the second bay from the right. The north-west wing adjoins at right angles to the far left.

The courtyard is stone-flagged with opposing central entrances to the north and south. The north side comprises 3 regular bays. The south side is irregular, with an entrance to a single-storey lean-to section (probably early 19th century) flanked by windows. Behind this wall stands a large double-shouldered wallhead chimney to the right of centre, likely belonging to the late 16th-century house. A 3-stage octagonal stair tower, corbelled out to square at the top level and projecting slightly into the courtyard at the left corner, also dates to the 16th century. A canted side of a smaller late 17th-century stair tower appears at the right corner. The east and west sides have irregular fenestration, with the east side largely blind.

The north-west range, known as Royston House, adjoins via a short narrow connecting passage at right angles to the far left of the west elevation of the main block. A main 8-bay section opens out at right angles to the north of this. The west elevation has an entrance to the far left bay; entrances also serve the second bay via a flight of steps to the first floor, the third bay via a later single-storey extension (partly lean-to), and the sixth bay via a later single-storey canted bay with flanking windows. Fenestration is irregular. The east elevation contains a single entrance via a later single-storey canted bay with flanking windows to the second bay from the left; a similar bay window appears to the left. Paired ground floor windows serve the third and fourth bays; paired first floor windows serve the second bay. A former entrance to the fifth bay is now a window; windows to the ground floor of the far right bay and first floor of the second bay from the right are blocked. A single-storey extension with a piended roof adjoins at right angles to the north-west.

The main block employs mainly 12-pane timber sash and case windows; the north-west range has 2-pane sashes and various replacements. Slate roofs, with those to the projecting pavilions to the south and to the north-west range being piended. Prominent chimneys include wallhead stacks to the outer elevations of the twin pavilions to the south and four gableheads (one at either end of the south wing of the main block and two to the north elevation, with a smaller wallhead stack in between). A large double-shouldered wallhead stack stands on the south side of the courtyard. Ridge stacks serve the east and west wings of the main block and the north-west range, with a wallhead stack to the south of the north-west range; all are coped with round cans.

Interior

The main block retains a number of very fine contemporary and early internal fittings. Multiple room schemes with timber panelling, decorative plasterwork, and painted panels survive, along with 2 staircases featuring wrought-iron balustrades. The state apartments on the first floor were refitted by William Adam in 1740-41. Most doors, doorcases, fireplace surrounds, dado panelling, and painted panels—mainly classical landscapes by the Norie family of Edinburgh—date from this period, though some late 17th-century features remain. The upper panelling is probably 19th century. Entrance to the state apartments was gained by crossing the courtyard to the state staircase in the north wing: a late 17th-century half-turn design with an elaborate wrought-iron balustrade decorated with flowers and foliage in relief adjoining a turned wooden balustrade at the top. An ante-room leads into the main drawing room to the north of the west range, which displays an elaborate late 17th-century coved plaster ceiling with a central painted panel of Aurora by Nicolas Heude; painted panels of classical landscapes by the Norie family appear over the fireplace and south doors. A similar elaborate coved plaster ceiling occupies the bed chamber to the south, featuring a circular centrepiece ceiling painting of Diana and Endymion, also by Nicolas Heude; 18th-century painted landscape panels appear over doors and fireplace. The drawing room to the north of the east wing has landscape panels above doors and fireplace, with similar painted panels to the bed chamber to the south, probably also by the Nories. Access to the first floor of the south wing is gained via a dog-leg staircase with a scrolled wrought-iron balustrade. A room to the west of the south wing contains a late 17th-century stepped corner fireplace and contemporary lugged doorcases; the panelling dates from the 1930s (it was inserted following a fire in this wing). Eighteenth-century painted landscape panels were inserted at this time; painted wooden beams, probably late 16th century, were uncovered after the fire and repositioned here. Timber panelling, lugged doorcases, and stepped corner fireplaces appear on the first floor of each of the pavilions; landscape paintings on plaster with painted monogrammed frames incorporating foliage and animals were executed by the Norie family. A 16th-century spiral staircase occupies the south-east corner of the quadrangle; a smaller late 17th-century spiral staircase serves the south-west corner. A large 16th-century fireplace stands to the centre of the first floor of the south wing. The north-west kitchen features a semi-elliptical tunnel vault.