Whitehouse, 124 Whitehouse Road, Edinburgh

Whitehouse, dating from circa 1615 with later additions in the 18th century and major alterations and additions by MacGibbon and Ross between 1895 and 1901, is a 2-storey L-plan tower house with attic and a 3-storey circular stair tower positioned in the re-entrant angle. The irregular 6-bay front elevation is asymmetrical at the rear.

The building is finished in whitewashed harl with polished yellow sandstone dressings. A raised base course runs along the front, and polished string courses surround the tower. The eaves course is moulded, and openings have polished surrounds—some with drove finish. Deep corbelling appears at the rear, crowstepped gables punctuate the roofline, and attic windows break through the eaves. A baluster sundial dating from 1732 stands at the rear of the property. To the north is a single-storey crowstepped outbuilding, and a rubble sandstone pillar with iron fittings stands to the northeast.

The entrance elevation features a circular entrance tower with a boarded timber door at ground level set in the central re-entrant angle, protected by a glazed panel with iron grille and a roll-moulded surround. Above is a blank sandstone panel within an architraved surround, flanked by single windows. Single windows appear at first and second floors in the central bays. The bay to the right of the entry has single windows at all floors and a crowstepped dormerhead with a ball finial above. The outer-right bay bears the inscription "1897" above a ground-floor single window, with another single window above breaking the eaves, a crowstepped gable, and a ball finial. A single window at ground level occupies the central bay to the left of the entry.

The north elevation presents three bays with M-gables. Single windows appear at ground level in all bays, with single windows at first floor in the central and outer-left bays. Crowstepped gables surmounted by carved finials complete this elevation.

The west elevation comprises five bays with a half-gabled addition at the southwest forming the L-plan. The outer-left bay contains a single ground-floor window with a crowstepped dormerhead above surmounted by a finial in the shape of a horse's head. A half-glazed boarded timber door at ground level in the bay to the right of the entry is accompanied by a tripartite window with stone mullions, above which a bipartite dormer with stone mullion is aligned. A single window at ground level occupies the re-entrant angle to the right, with single windows at first and second floors in the outer-right bay. The addition (entrance) elevation shows a single window at ground in the re-entrant angle to the left, single windows at ground and first floors centred in the gable, and a small single window in the outer-right bay.

The rear elevation is asymmetrically arranged. A projecting single-storey addition occupies the outer-left bay. A 2-leaf boarded timber door offset to the left of centre has a droved surround inscribed "16 DP 15" above. To the left of the entry, a 2-storey circular stair tower corbels out at first-floor level with deep geometric detailing and an inscription "1897" below; single windows centre this tower at first and second floors. A flat-roofed, 3-light canted window at ground in the bay to the right of the entry has chamfered surrounds and geometric frieze detailing, with single windows at first and second floors above and in the penultimate bay to the right, topped by ball finials to crowstepped dormerheads. Chamfered 3-light canted windows occupy both floors in the outer-right bay, which features heavy corbelling to a crowstepped gable surmounted by a ball finial; a blank panel set within an architraved surround centres the apex. The addition (side) elevation displays a single window at ground in the re-entrant angle to the right and an architraved panel inscribed "J F M 1901. A A M" in the central bay to the left. The south gable elevation has a chamfered corner with heavy corbelling detail to the right and single windows at both floors centred in the apex.

The roof is finished in graded grey slate with crowstepped skews, beak skewputts, and conical caps to the stair towers surmounted by ball finials. Ridge and apex stacks are harled and comprise sandstone margins, cornices, and various circular cans.

Windows are predominantly 12- and 8-pane timber sash and case.

The interior features boarded timber ceilings, skirting boards, timber-panelled doors, shutters, and stone fireplaces. The drawing room retains its timber panelling, a roll-moulded sandstone chimneypiece, dado panelling, a segmental-arched recess with raised keystone, and a timber boarded and compartmental ceiling.

The sundial of 1732 stands 4 feet tall and is constructed of baluster sandstone with a square table measuring 20 inches by 20 inches. It has a stepped base, projecting cornice, and dials set on each face. A circular iron horizontal table-dial is inscribed "Mr David Strachan 1732", with a triangular iron gnomon measuring 11 inches by 7 inches inscribed "1752 M D S".

The outbuilding north of the house is a pitched single-storey block running east to west. Crowstepped gables with tapering sandstone finials surmount each gable. A single window to the south at ground occupies the outer-left bay, with single openings to the north at ground in three bays to the right of centre. Sliding boarded timber doors serve large openings to the left. The roof is finished in graded grey slate with replacement rainwater goods.

An early 18th-century pillar of square-cut grey rubble sandstone stands on a rough sandstone base, surmounted by an iron pin. An iron chain (with the neck-piece missing) is attached to the north face, and various indentations appear in the south face.

A large roll-moulded sandstone depressed arch set to the northwest of the house comprises an architraved surround with raised keystones symmetrically disposed and engaged roll-moulded piers to the outer left and right, flanked by scrolled skewputts.

The boundary wall to Whitehouse Road consists of random rubble grey sandstone with bull-faced coping, flanked by obelisk gatepiers at the entry. A low coped harled terrace wall at the rear, finished with ball-shaped finials, encloses a chequered black and white marble patio.