Hermitage Of Braid, Braid Road, Edinburgh

The Hermitage of Braid is a house dating from 1785, designed by Robert Burn. It is a two-storey and attic, three-bay castellated house with a basement to the rear. The front elevation is constructed of cream-coloured, droved ashlar stone, while the rear and sides are of coursed rubble with droved ashlar dressings.

The symmetrical front (southwest) elevation features an advanced central bay accessed by three steps. The recessed panel entrance has a round-arched doorway with a two-leaf panelled door and a semi-circular fanlight with an intricate astragal pattern. A single window is located above the door at the first floor. Venetian windows are found in the outer bays at ground floor level, with single windows above. The elevation is finished with a cornice and crenellated battlement that breaks the eaves, with small pepperpot bartizans.

The rear (northeast) elevation is three storeys high, with a blank basement level. A projecting central bay encompasses the staircase and has a tripartite window on the ground floor with narrow outer lights. A tripartite window is positioned above the ground floor, and the eaves are doubled and bracketted, with a crenellated battlement. The outer bays have Venetian windows on the ground floor and single windows on the first floor.

The southeast elevation is three storeys high and four bays wide, including a basement level with tripartite windows to the inner bays and secondary doors to the outer bays. The ground floor features tall round-arched windows in each bay, and the first floor has single windows in each bay. A later, pedimented bipartite timber dormer is present towards the left of the centre.

The northwest elevation also stands three storeys high and five bays wide, with single windows to the basement level. The ground floor has round-arched windows in the centre and outer bays, while the bays to the left and right of the centre have single windows. The first floor features single windows in each bay. Small-pane timber sash and case windows are used throughout, with nine panes at the first floor level. The roof is a slate piend, with a platform and lead flashings, and two central stacks.

Internally, the hall has a deeply coved ceiling with plasterwork and a dentilled cornice. Original woodwork is present throughout, including panelled doors and dado panelling. The en suite drawing and dining rooms on the ground floor have fluted and panelled pilasters, surrounds, and shutters to the Venetian windows, alongside extensive plasterwork including cornices, a garlanded frieze, an egg and dart cornice, and festooned plasterwork panels. Fireplaces in both rooms have black marble slips and timber surrounds carved with garlands and festoons. A butler's pantry includes a dumb waiter. The basement kitchen has a triple arch fireplace with a 19th-century cast-iron range with a round bread oven and a decoratively cast door. Finally, there is a scale and platt stair with a cast-iron balustrade and timber handrails.