Binley Cottage, 42 Pentland Avenue, Edinburgh

Binley Cottage is a villa, built in 1897 by the architect Sir Robert Lorimer, with alterations made in 1910 and further additions in 1939. It is a roughly square building of two storeys and an attic, with a 3-bay front and a swept roof over a central verandah, now glazed in, flanked by two large, piend-roofed bays. The house is painted cream with red sandstone cills, and has a base course to the east elevation. The bays on the south side slightly corbel out at the first floor level.

The east (entrance) elevation features an advanced gable with a thistle finial, containing a timber-panelled front door within a roll-moulded red sandstone architrave. The door has leaded lights to the top panel, and a carved lintel displaying the date 1897 intertwined with decorative foliage. A single window is situated above the door. A blind wall runs along the left side, while windows are positioned to the right. An advanced wing from 1939 is present on the outer right, and an advanced garage is set back along the south return, featuring a flat-coped wall with a ball finial. A tripartite window sits above the garage.

The south (principal/garden) elevation shows a central verandah under a swept roof, with a pair of French doors and side-lights behind the verandah. A tripartite, flat-roofed dormer is situated above the verandah. Quadripartite windows are found in the wings, and a later picture window is positioned at ground level to the left.

The west (side) elevation is irregularly fenestrated and has a cat-slide roofed section to the outer left. An advanced stack is centrally placed, and a corbelled-out, one-window section is to the right of the stack. A staircase window is to the left.

The north (rear) elevation has a single-storey, three-window section with a cat-slide roof and a flat-roofed dormer in the attic on the right. To the left is a two-story section with a timber-boarded back door and a small outshot with a steep cat-slide roof at the far left.

The windows are predominantly timber casements with leaded lights. The coped rendered stacks have tall clay cans, and the roof is red tiled and piended. Cast iron downpipes are in place.

Inside, a tiled vestibule leads to a hall running through the centre of the house, with a staircase featuring painted turned timber balusters and a polished timber handrail. Decorative plasterwork adorns the staircase ceiling. The drawing room has a plain roll-moulded sandstone fireplace with a corniced mantelshelf, and bookcases flank the main window. The dining room has an advanced chimney breast with a roll-moulded red sandstone fire surround, delft tiles to the hearth and back of the fireplace, a plaster mantelshelf and picture frame above, and a brass bell to the right of the fireplace. Recessed shelves with cupboards beneath flank the chimney breast. Sliding doors link the dining room and the drawing room. The study (formerly a smoking room) has a roll-moulded sandstone surround and a decorative wrought-iron grate. Original fireplaces with cast-iron grates are found in some upstairs rooms. Original bells are present in the kitchen. The original downstairs lavatory retains a mahogany seat and a “Patent Silent Edina” cistern, along with an original corner basin with brass taps. Timber panelled interior doors have brass handles bearing the Lorimer mark. Plaster cornices feature in most rooms.