Riselaw House, 53 Pentland Terrace, Edinburgh

Riselaw House, 53 Pentland Terrace, Edinburgh

A 2-storey Art Nouveau villa with basement, designed by John Gordon and Bennet Dobson in 1904, with minor later additions. The building occupies the summit of sloping land and follows a rectangular plan. The external walls are harled with minimal use of red sandstone dressings, deep projecting eaves, a pentagonal bay at the south-west corner, and tall battered wallhead chimneys on all sides.

The principal west elevation presents an asymmetrical arrangement. Steps lead up to the entrance, positioned left of centre, with a deep sandstone lintel and hoodmould extending to either side above a panelled timber door and adjacent small flanking windows. Single windows flank the door, with another above. The left side features an upper storey corbelled out over a canted north-west corner, with a 3-light bay window. A pair of first floor windows is surmounted by a shallow gabled dormerhead with beaked skewputts. The right side displays a pentagonal bay topped with a shallow conical roof and disc-shaped finial on a tall shaft to the south-west corner. Canted bay windows occupy each floor, with a moulded sandstone band course forming the sill of the upper windows. A small window serves the first floor to the left.

The south elevation includes the pentagonal bay (described above) to the left, with a basement entrance beneath a glazed PVC door. A shallow single-storey canted bay with lean-to roof extends to the right, featuring a small semicircular window to the centre, small flanking windows, a window above, and another immediately to the right. A 2-leaf glazed door stands at the far right.

The north elevation has its upper storey corbelled out to the right over the canted north-west corner, displaying a 3-light bay window, with a basement entrance beneath a glazed PVC door. A slightly projecting section with lean-to roof projects to the left. Three irregularly spaced windows with stone sills serve the first floor. An early 20th century single-storey harled extension, with minor later additions, extends to the left.

The east elevation features a single-storey lean-to extension to the right covering most of this side, with an additional later lean-to extension to its left containing a PVC glazed door entrance. A pair of windows and single window set back to the right serve the ground floor, with two windows to the left return and one set back further to the left at ground floor level. Two windows alternate with two pairs of windows at first floor level. An earlier 20th century single-storey extension, modified to contain a garage, projects forward to the right.

Windows are predominantly 18 and 9-pane timber sash and case, though some lower sashes have been replaced with single sheets. The roof is red tiled and piended. Corner wallhead stacks rise at the north-east and south-east; additional wallhead stacks occupy each elevation, with a second on the west side above the gabled dormerhead. All are tall and battered, some coped, with round cans. Cast iron rainwater goods complete the external detailing.

The interior retains a largely intact plan and fittings apart from alterations to the kitchen area in the north-east corner. A dog-leg staircase features extended newel posts with disc-shaped finials. The main living area in the south-west corner includes an inglenook and raised area with a timber openwork screen. Individual panelled doors with copper doorhandles throughout the building reflect the original scheme. Original fireplaces survive, including an Art Nouveau cast-iron fireplace surround with peacock-depicting tiles in the north-west bedroom, a brick fireplace with wooden surround in the hallway, and a mid to late 19th century stone fireplace surround in the main living area.