Garage, Acharra, 3 Spylaw Avenue, Edinburgh

Garage, Acharra, 3 Spylaw Avenue, Edinburgh

This is a two-storey, three-bay Arts and Crafts villa designed by Sir Robert Lorimer in 1897, with a northeast wing added by builder John Angus in 1906. The main house is rectangular in plan with piend-roofed sections to the outer bays of the north and south elevations, while the centre features swept-roof bays with dormers in the attic. The later wing incorporates small oval windows and a pend through to the garage. The exterior is rendered in cream painted harling with red sandstone cills and other dressings; red sandstone ashlar is employed to the central section around the front door. Parts of the principal elevations are jettied out at first-floor level.

The north (entrance) elevation has a swept-roof section to the centre with a timber panelled door set in a roll-moulded architrave decorated with carved flowers to the sides, and a cornice above carved with rose motifs. A leaded stained glass tripartite window sits to the left of the door with slightly raised margins, and two flat-roofed dormers above. To the right is a bay with a canted corner at ground level, corbelled to square and jettied out at first floor, with a tripartite window at first-floor level. To the left is a bay with a tall staircase window. The 1906 wing on the outer left contains a depressed-arch pend to the centre with a stone staircase rising from inside; small blind oval windows surround the pend with sandstone tabs, and a tablet sits above the arch.

The west (side) elevation is irregularly fenestrated with a gablet to the centre and is partially jettied out at first floor. A sandstone sundial clasps the southwest corner at first-floor level, inscribed "TAK TENT O' TIME ERE TIME BE TINT, HM, 1897".

The south (principal/garden) elevation features a swept roof over a central verandah (now glazed in) with a canted bay window to the rear and a four-light dormer to the roof. To the left is a bay jettied out at first floor with a five-light window at ground and a four-light window above. To the right is a bay with a canted corner to the outer right, corbelled to square at first floor, with no window at ground level but a four-light window at first floor; a very small gabled dormer rises to the attic.

The east elevation of the original house shows three bays to the left with a recessed centre. A narrow piend-roofed section to the left is jettied out at first floor with windows at both floors. An asymmetrical gable to the right has a stack to one side, corbelled out at first floor. An irregularly fenestrated addition occupies the right side.

The interior features a tiled lobby with a half-glazed timber panelled door. An alcove off the hall contains an Art-Nouveau style timber screen in the form of a broken circle, possibly a later addition, alongside a tripartite stained glass window depicting ships and shells with the inscription "I COMMIT ALL TO GOD" in the central panel. A very fine timber staircase with carved panels depicting flowers, fruit and grapes rises through the house with an original brass rod handrail. Above the staircase is a coved ceiling with decorative plasterwork bearing the date 1897 to the centre and vine trees inhabited by birds to the sides. A narrow timber staircase from the upstairs landing leads to the attic. The drawing room contains an alcove with a window seat and decorative plasterwork above dated 1897 with entwined foliage; the fireplace is modern but similar to that in the dining room. Two-leaf sliding doors connect the drawing room to the dining room. The dining room has a timber chimneypiece with an original brass bell-pull, flanking cupboards, and a roll-moulded red sandstone inset, along with an Art Nouveau bronze grate and stone fender. The study contains a small stained-glass panel in the window and a painted timber chimneypiece with brass bell-pull, flanking cupboards and shelves. An upstairs landing alcove has a recessed alcove with a stained glass window depicting birds flying past a tree. The main bedroom fireplace has a slightly Art-Nouveau grate, stone inset, and a chimneypiece with an arched centre and quadrant shelves up the sides. The second bedroom has a fireplace with a cast-iron grate and timber chimneypiece with shelves up the sides. The third bedroom fireplace also has shelves up the sides and a small glazed display cupboard above the centre, which is boarded up. A bedroom to the centre features a stained glass window similar to that on the landing. Plain cornices and timber panelled interior doors with Lorimer handles appear throughout.

The boundary wall comprises coped random rubble with ashlar gatepiers.

The garage, dating to circa 1925 and replacing an earlier structure, has a timber boarded door, plain pilasters clasping the corners, a small segmental pediment, and a window to the side. It is rendered with a felt roof.