Drumsheugh Toll, 1, 2, 3 Belford Road, Edinburgh

Drumsheugh Toll, built in 1891 by George Washington Browne, is a large studio house situated on a steeply sloping site in Edinburgh. The building displays a Tudor style, with a roughly five-bay, irregular plan, and has been subsequently subdivided into offices and a residential dwelling.

The Belford Road frontage is two storeys, while the rear elevation, facing Bell’s Brae, rises to five storeys. A prominent, crenellated central entrance tower is capped with a pyramid roof. To the left (west) of the tower is an advanced gable with a half-timbered glazed upper storey, and a single-storey block extends further to the west. The exterior is largely constructed of coursed random rubble with red sandstone dressings. A deep red stucco base course features imprinted details of the letter “H”, eagles, and thistles, while a red sandstone cill course sits at the first floor level. A canopied entrance doorway is supported by large, curved timber brackets. Windows include bipartite and tripartite arrangements on the ground and first floors, with continuous round arched windows to the half-timbered bay.

The rear elevation, on Bell's Brae, is roughly twelve bays wide. A crenellated sandstone tower, incorporating mock machicolation, rises from the centre, accompanied by half-timbered bays and a smaller bartizan to the west. The first floor is tile-hung. A banded string course runs at the second floor level, and a tripartite mullioned studio window punctuates the gable at the third floor. Timber surrounds the half-timbered bays at the third floor, while a series of studio windows are arranged within tall, round arched surrounds on the fourth floor.

The east elevation is roughly four bays wide and two storeys high, with a steeply sloping ground falling to the north. A slightly advanced gable, featuring a recessed, canted timber bay at ground floor level, is present. A moulded string course sits at the first floor level, and the fenestration is irregular, with a tripartite window to the left of centre (south) at ground floor.

The west elevation presents an irregular appearance, with an advanced single-storey block to the south. Small rectangular dormers flank a tall wallhead stack, and the fenestration is irregular.

The interior, originally a single dwelling with separate accommodation in the lower levels facing Bell’s Brae, has been converted into offices in 2008. The main entrance opens into a timber-panelled hall with a large fireplace to the east and an open plan connection to a panelled studio with large, leaded windows overlooking a balcony. A similar room is located above on the first floor, with an additional small room situated in the northeast corner of a turret. Strapwork ceilings, featuring circle, diamond, and vesica motifs, are found on both the ground and first floors. Small, possibly 17th-century Flemish, tiled alcoves are present in the south-facing rooms on the first floor. Cast-iron and brick fire surrounds with timber mantels are found throughout, some of which are painted.

The windows are predominantly timber sash and case with plate glass, and distinctive geometric leadwork is incorporated into the timbered gables and first-floor windows on the south façade. The roof is pitched and covered in grey slates, with a pyramidal form to the central tower and a wrought-iron weathervane. Cast-iron rainwater goods are also present.