Farmhouse And Steading, Ratho Mains

The property comprises a farmhouse and steading dating from the earlier 19th century. The farmhouse is a 2-storey, 3-bay, symmetrical, rectangular building constructed of coursed whinstone with droved white sandstone margins, featuring a base course, string course, blocking course, and quoins. The main, south elevation originally had a central door, now covered by a modern glazed lean-to porch, with a modern door and a plate glass fanlight and flanking windows. The windows are symmetrically arranged on the first floor. A high garden wall runs to the right and left of the house. The north elevation is asymmetrical, with a 3-bay main block and a single-storey scullery and storage area to the right. Windows are positioned off-centre to the left and right at ground level, with two windows at the top right on the first floor. A half-piend scullery has a two-step elevation to the right, with a door and a boarded, 5-pane letterbox fanlight. Two boarded doors are located off-centre to the right. A rubble, pantiled, piend-roofed shed sits in the outer right corner against the garden wall. The east elevation is 2-bay with symmetrically disposed windows, and a blind window at the first floor outer left. The west elevation is blank, with a wall abutting at the centre. Twelve-pane sash and case windows are present, along with a grey slate roof, a piend and platformed roof, and square, coped wallhead stacks.

A walled garden is enclosed by a roughly 12-foot-high rubble whinstone wall with sandstone slab coping, that runs from the east and west walls of the house, bounding the garden to the south. The south walls are lower, with a pedestrian entrance at the centre.

The steading is located to the north of the farmhouse and dates from the earlier 19th century. It was originally a quadrangular-plan steading with a central cattle feeding shed, with later additions and alterations. The construction is squared and snecked whinstone rubble with droved sandstone margins, with droved ashlar margins to the east range, and later brick infill. The south range was originally a central cattle shed with outer left and right pends, one of which is now blocked. The end bays have blind windows. Former cattle sheds are located in the centre, with feeding doors now blocked. Boarded sliding doors are present to the left of centre and at the penultimate bay. Remains of sandstone voussoirs are immediately to the left of the off-centre door. The east range has a blank wall on the outer left, followed by three tall, droved ashlar, round-headed cart-arches, with symmetrically placed louvred granary openings above. A blank east wall of a lean-to implement shed sits to the right, with a blocked opening and droved quoins, now supported by modern cast-iron supports and a modern roof. The interior of the steading is characterized by pend openings and alterations.

The south elevation of the steading features a 2-storey, 3-bay block at the centre, with a 3-bay single-storey block to the left and right. The main 2-storey block has a large boarded door with a small window above on the outer left, a central ground floor door, and symmetrically disposed windows to the outer right bay. Three boarded doors are symmetrically disposed to the left, the leftmost having a plate-glass letterbox fanlight. A 3-bay arrangement (door, window, door) is present to the right. Blocked arched openings are visible on the east elevation. The west elevation has a rendered, gabled hoist door with a louvred ventilation opening to the left, which is blocked to the right.