Hartfell, 10 Spylaw Park, Edinburgh

Hartfell, 10 Spylaw Park, Edinburgh

A 2-storey house with attic designed by Sir Robert Lorimer, built in 1899 and extended 1905-9. The building follows a roughly T-shaped plan with an entrance forecourt to the north. It is constructed of reddish-brown sandstone rubble with red sandstone ashlar window cills. The roofline is dominated by bell-cast piended roofs, an M-gable over the front door, a round turret with conical roof at the south-east corner, and a large conical turret with recessed verandah at the centre of the south elevation. Some sections are jettied out at first floor level. A single-storey service wing extends to the north.

The north and east elevations form the entrance forecourt. The M-gabled entrance features a timber panelled front door set within a roll-moulded sandstone frame, with a deep corniced lintel continuing over flanking windows. The lintel is decorated with carved flowers and bears the date 1899. A recessed section lies to the left. To the right stands an irregularly fenestrated wing with a shaped dormer at first floor and a flat-roofed dormer to the attic. Behind this is a single-storey service wing with a piended roof and coped parapet wall; its outer right section, added around 1909, contains a garage. The north elevation of the main 2-storey section features a very asymmetrical gable, crowstepped to the left and rising to a prominent shouldered gablehead stack, with a small window and pitched roof to the right of the stack.

The east side elevation is asymmetrical, with a gable and small first-floor window to the right. The round turret with conical roof projects to the left, with a jettied-out first floor and a dormer featuring a shaped pediment.

The south (principal garden) elevation has a slightly stepped profile. A broad round turret with conical roof projects at first floor level, with three windows at each of the first and second floors and a pedimented dormer to the attic. To the right is a 3-window section, also jettied out at first floor with a shaped dormer. The outer right turret contains a single ground-floor window and a shaped pediment dormer at first floor. The 1906 section to the left of the central turret features a recessed swept-roof verandah with a tripartite window to the rear, a glazed door to the side, and a bipartite dormer above. An advanced piend-roofed bay to the outer left has a tripartite window under a relieving arch at ground level and a bipartite dormer with piended roof above.

The west side elevation is stepped and irregularly fenestrated. The 1906 wing to the outer right has a large shouldered wallhead stack; its north return contains a wide, shallow window under a relieving arch at ground level, with a bipartite piend-roofed dormer above. A recessed central section features a tall staircase window and irregular fenestration. An advanced jerkin-headed bay to the left has paired windows at ground and a single window above. The single-storey service wing to the outer left has irregular fenestration and a timber boarded back door.

Throughout, windows are predominantly 12- and 9-pane glazing in timber sash and case frames. Tall coped stacks terminate in yellow clay cans. The roof is red tile.

Internally, the principal rooms face south and overlook the garden, while the service wing faces east and west, overlooking the entrance forecourt and drying green. A tiled lobby with half-glazed timber panelled inner door provides entry. A timber panelled staircase with turned balusters rises to the upper floor. The hall and dining room feature decorative plasterwork. The dining room has a roll-moulded sandstone fireplace with a separate corbelled-out mantelshelf and flanking cupboards and shelves. The drawing room contains a lugged timber chimney piece with marble insets, a cast-iron grate, and a separate corbelled mantelshelf. The former smoking room and bedroom over the drawing room have timber chimney pieces with small shelves up the sides and cast-iron grates. The rest of the house interior was not seen at the time of inspection in 2003, although detailed plans held in the National Monuments Record of Scotland provide the information above.

The stable and coach house, dated 1899, is a single-storey structure with attic. It has a bell-cast piended roof swept down to the south to form a tool shed. The hayloft entrance is contained within a shaped dormer, with a flat-roofed dormer to the rear. A 2-leaf timber boarded door gives access to the coach house, with an arched stable entrance to the right and a half-glazed timber boarded door to the hayloft above.

A pre-1914 single-storey rectangular outbuilding, possibly for garaging, has a bell-cast piended roof with deep eaves.

The boundary is defined by a round-coped snecked rubble wall with sandstone ashlar gatepiers featuring roll-moulded corners and stepped caps. Timber boarded gates hang from the piers.