Perdrixknowe, 82 Colinton Road, Edinburgh

Perdrixknowe is a villa constructed in 1884 by James Gowans, situated at 82 Colinton Road, Edinburgh. It is a two-storey building with a basement to the rear, originally planned around three bays, though the design is irregular. The villa is built of yellow sandstone, with polished ashlar facing. It exhibits distinctive decorative features including pen-nib carving and a heavy frieze and cornice, along with pedimented gableheads, dormerheads, and chimney copes, and a cill course at the first-floor level.

The south-east (front) elevation features a modern lean-to verandah roof extending across the whole elevation and turning onto the south-west and north-east sides. An advanced, pedimented bay is centrally positioned and breaks through the verandah roof. A tripartite window is at ground floor level, with fluted stone mullions and margins, pen-nib carving to the lintel, and ornamental stone brackets. Above this is a tripartite window set in a square panel, with stepped and round-headed lights incorporating decorative carving, fluted stone mullions and margins, and carved medallions above the outer lights. A pedimented gable crowns the central bay, featuring a blank heraldic panel and a stone ball finial. An entrance porch is located in the re-entrant angle on the right side, with pen-nib carving on the margins. Single windows are situated in the outer bays at ground floor level, with matching single windows above, breaking the eaves with pedimented dormerheads.

The north-west (rear) elevation presents a three-bay, three-storey main block flanked by two-storey, single-bay square wings. Five windows are visible at basement and ground floor level, one per bay. Centrally, a tripartite, pedimented window breaks the eaves at first floor level, mirroring the design of the front elevation, and incorporates a bracketted balcony with a stone balustrade and pen-nib carving to the lintels. A stone ball finial tops this feature.

The south-west elevation includes a shallow projection at ground floor level on the right, featuring a tripartite window matching the ground floor window of the south-east elevation. A single window above breaks the eaves, with single windows flanking the projection. The left side of the elevation falls to three storeys on a steep slope, secured by a balustrade set at a right angle to the building. A two-storey projecting bay with a piended roof is situated on the outer left, containing one window per floor. A first-floor window breaking the eaves with a pedimented dormerhead is positioned on the outer left, while a narrow tripartite window to the inner left is set under the eaves, breaking the frieze and extending as capitals to the stone mullions. A similar window design is employed on the return of the advanced bay to the right. The villa originally featured timber sash and case windows, most with plate glass, although some are four-pane. The roof is covered with Scottish slate, and is punctuated by three grooved chimney stacks - two on the front ridge, with a cross-section stack on the rear gable, each topped with tall, decorative serrated cans.

The interior was not inspected in 1992.

The property is set within pierced boundary walls at the front. Square gatepiers, which are not in their original position, feature chamfered corners topped with large ball finials. A band of incised petal-shaped motifs decorates the tops of the posts and finials.