Swanston Cottage, 108 Swanston Road, Swanston, Edinburgh

Swanston Cottage is a 2-storey villa with a single-storey eastern section, probably originally built in the later 18th century but substantially altered during the 1830s and again in the late 19th century. The building underwent early 20th century internal alterations by the architect Robert S Lorimer. The plan is L-shaped, extended to form a square. The principal south elevation features a bow window and a stepped gable, with the exterior harled and limewashed except for sandstone ashlar dressings, which are droved to the principal elevation. The gables have ashlar coping. Crockets from St Giles Cathedral have been incorporated as decoration on the house and in the garden.

The principal south elevation has a stone step up to the entrance at the centre of the main 3-bay section, with a stopped roll-moulded reveal and a 2-leaf panelled timber door. To the right is a 2-storey bowed tripartite window with ashlar architrave and mullions. To the left is a 2-light window with ashlar mullion, lintel and sill. A gabled canopy supported on decorative wrought iron brackets supports a cast-iron bell and features timber bargeboards and a stylised bird finial above the left bay. Above the door is a single window with ashlar lintel and sill, and above this another window with a sill inscribed "1867 R.L.S 1880". A single storey section with a stepped gable lies to the right, with a moulded Gothic stone crocket above each flanking section and an architraved window to this section.

The east elevation contains a projecting single storey section on the right with a single window, and a single window to the right return. The main body of the house has a first floor architraved window, and below it a window with a stone sill and an architraved window. A flat-roofed section to the right has a ground floor entrance with a concrete architrave inscribed "1760", a single window to the left, and two irregularly disposed windows above.

The west elevation shows the gable end of the main body with a first floor window with stone lintel and sill to the right. A flat-roofed section to the left has three ground floor windows, one of which is bi-partite with a stone mullion, and two bi-partite windows to the first floor.

The north elevation is largely blank, built into rock, with a low stepped parapet.

The main L-plan body is roofed with grey slate, while the rear extended flat-roofed section is covered in felt roofing with a slightly stepped profile. Gablehead stacks sit at either end of the original L-plan section (the north gable is partially obscured by the flat-roofed extension), with one ridge stack and one wallhead stack. The flat-roofed section has three stacks, including one wallhead stack at the northeast corner. All stacks are coped with round cans. The majority of windows are timber sash and case, with those to the principal elevation being 12-pane.

The interior layout largely dates from the early 20th century, incorporating various fittings by Robert Lorimer. A carved stone fireplace surround in the kitchen at the northeast corner is dated 1908 and features a decorative shield at its centre with flanking inscriptions reading "COELUM NON SOLUM" and "R.L.S.1867.1880.". The front room contains an Adam style fireplace surround and timber panelling to the west incorporating a lugged fireplace surround with a naive painted panel of a ship above.

A rubble retaining wall with rubble coping encloses a large garden to the south of the house. A rubble-sided water channel with culverts runs east to west across the garden. Immediately south of the house is a stone trough inscribed "COMISTON 1676". A terrace to the west of the house features a rubble wall and parapet surmounted by nine moulded Gothic stone crockets (a tenth is propped to one side) with a carved stone cross at the centre. Immediately to the east of the house stands a 2-storey single-fronted harled outbuilding of late 19th or early 20th century date.