Beechmount House, 102 Corstorphine Road, Edinburgh

Beechmount House is a large, richly detailed 2-storey Italianate villa built in 1900 to the designs of John Watson. It was commissioned for Sir George Anderson, Treasurer of the Bank of Scotland. The house is constructed of polished sandstone ashlar to the principal elevations, with snecked stone elsewhere. A band course runs along the first floor level. Lead ogee domes crown the outer corners of the building.

The west elevation, the main entrance front, features a central 3-bay projection. A rusticated entrance porch is positioned on the left, incorporating a balustraded platform and the crest of the Bank of Scotland. Above the entrance is a bipartite window and a Diocletian window. A bow window with three lights extends to the right, with six round-arched windows above at the first floor level. A two-storey tower with an open viewing platform and dome is set into the southwest angle.

The north elevation displays an irregular pattern of windows and includes a fire stair and a servants’ wing projection at the left. The east elevation also has an irregular fenestration, along with a single-storey addition to the rear of the main block.

The south (principal) elevation showcases a tripartite window with a Serlian architrave at ground floor level in the left bay, featuring the initials “AM” carved within the tympanum. Three round-arched windows are situated above. A two-storey bow window occupies the second bay from the left, with rectangular windows at ground floor and round-arched windows with Ionic attached columns on the first floor. A date stone is centrally positioned on the first floor. The second bay from the right mirrors the left, with a tripartite window, Serlian architrave, and the owner’s initials "GA" carved in the tympanum above three round-arched windows; a single arched window completes the elevation to the left. A single-storey bow window is located in the right bay, topped by three round-arched windows. A richly decorated single-storey oriel is situated at the southeast angle.

The windows are timber sash and case, with two panes per sash. A shallow-pitched slate roof is topped with corniced stacks.

The interior features fluted Ionic pilasters in the ground floor hall, a marble fireplace with a grandiose chimneypiece in the ground floor hall, and an imperial staircase at the end of the hallway. The main rooms on the ground floor are opulent, with heavy marble chimneypieces at the east end. The first-floor hall has Ionic columns, while a southwest room boasts rich detailing, including fluted Corinthian columns and an Adamesque chimneypiece.

A rectangular, single-storey gate lodge is constructed of squared and snecked sandstone with polished long and short surrounds. It has overhanging eaves, flat-roofed dormers, and a grey slate roof. Round-headed openings, rectangular windows, and doors are present, some with cornices. Centred dormers are on each face, complemented by a corniced stack with a pair of cans and cast-iron rainwater goods.

The coach house is a one-and-a-half-storey structure built of squared and snecked stone and occupies an L-shaped plan, with a single-storey addition in the re-entrant angle. It has a slate roof, straight skews, and corniced stacks. A piended roof building to the left features two single windows at ground floor and a single dormer window in the centre of the roof.

Boundary walls constructed of coped rubble are punctuated by square, panelled sandstone ashlar gatepiers with cushion caps. Corinthian columns support the lamp columns, which have plain shafts.