Huntly, 32 Gillespie Road, Edinburgh

Huntly, 32 Gillespie Road, Edinburgh

Designed by Sir Robert Lorimer and dated 1899, with some later additions. A two-storey and attic house of roughly L-plan form, with a long main range to the east and a shorter wing to the west containing the principal rooms. The entrance forecourt to the northwest has later additions. The house features jettied-out mansard-shaped dormers to the east and west, round turrets with conical roofs to the south and east, a swept-roof verandah (now glazed in) to the south, a scullery wing at the northeast corner, and a bell-cast roof. The walls are painted harled sandstone with sandstone ashlar window cills and other dressings.

The west elevation and forecourt show an advanced section to the right forming the forecourt to the left. A half-glazed timber panelled door with leaded lights sits in a sandstone ashlar roll-moulded architrave to the right of a recessed bay. The architrave features a flower motif in shield at its centre. To the right of the door is a leaded light with an ashlar mullion and surround. The door is recessed under a porch formed by a later extension. The bay to the left of the door is jettied out at first floor and rises to a dormer in the attic; a tablet beneath the first-floor window bears a coat of arms inscribed "MP 1899" and "JE MEURS POUR CEUX QUE J'AIM". A double window at ground level sits to the left. The scullery outshot is recessed to the outer left. An advanced bay to the right has a jettied-out dormer at first floor. A sandstone tablet below depicts a long-necked bird feeding its young. An asymmetrical gable to the north has a rounded corner rising to a cusp below the eaves.

The south (garden) elevation features a conical turret to the left with three windows at both floors, jettied out at first-floor level. A swept-roof verandah (now glazed in) is recessed to the centre, with a flat-roofed dormer above. A two-storey and attic gable advanced to the right has a tripartite window at ground and single windows to other floors. The left return is jettied out at first floor with a four-light horizontal window below.

The east (side) elevation shows a tall staircase window at the centre with a flat-roofed dormer above. A bay to the left is jettied out at first-floor and rises to a dormer. A semicircular turret to the right has a later glazed door (possibly later) at ground level. A lean-to scullery outshot to the outer right has a later flat-roofed bipartite dormer above.

The windows are predominantly twelve- and nine-pane glazing in timber sash and case windows, with some casements. Ridge stacks are sandstone-coped and rendered with red clay cans. The roof is red tile.

The interior contains a decoratively carved sandstone chimneypiece in the hall with a timber mantelshelf and built-in bevelled-glass mirror above. The timber panelled staircase features fret-work frieze carved with vines under the hand-rail and a coved ceiling above with signs of the zodiac in plaster. An ingleneuk in the former dining room has a sandstone fireplace, cast-iron grate, bevelled-glass mirror, and flanking timber shelves and cupboards. A deep cornice with plasterwork vines decorates the room, with a small stained-glass window to the right dated 1900. Small amounts of decorative plasterwork appear in the bay window of the former drawing room. A large chimneypiece in that room has a corbelled-out timber mantelshelf and delft tiles around the grate. Original chimneypieces survive in many bedrooms. Cornices, interior doors with original door furniture, many original cast-iron grates, and sandstone fenders remain throughout. A butler's pantry contains a dresser and porcelain sink.

A greenhouse, dating from circa 1910, is constructed of rendered brick, timber and glass with an asymmetrically pitched roof and central door breaking the eaves. Glazed interior partitions divide the interior. A lean-to boiler house behind has a tiled roof.

The boundary wall consists of round-coped sandstone rubble. Sandstone ashlar corniced gatepiers mark the carriage and pedestrian entrances, each topped with an octagonal pyramidal cap. Nineteen-thirty-style "sunburst" cast-iron gates close the entrances.