Egremont, 38 Dick Place, Edinburgh

Egremont, 38 Dick Place, Edinburgh

A Grade A listed building designed by Frederick T Pilkington between 1864 and 1870. This almost square-plan mansion house occupies a sloping site and represents a stylized Romanesque interpretation enriched with abundant carved decoration featuring foliate and animal motifs. The building rises through three main storeys with additional entresole and attic floors. It was subdivided in 1929.

The exterior is constructed from pink bull-faced sandstone with cream stugged or polished ashlar dressings and ornaments. Distinctive features include long and short quoins, a battered base course, and eaves courses decorated with triangular geometric patterns and carved floral foliate or animal head corbels.

The entrance elevation to the east features a bowed corner bay at the outer left, while an inner broad blank chimneybreast displays contrasting stone geometric patterns. Three symmetrical bays occupy the right side. The central focus is a round-arched doorpiece with detached capitalled columns supporting a stylized floral frieze and roll-moulded barrel-vaulted canopy topped with an elaborate armorial finial. Two-leaf boarded doors with iron hinges provide access. Round-arched bipartite windows with half-length capitalled column-mullions in shaped recesses flank the entrance on either side, each topped with a large floral patrae. At first floor level are three single round-arched windows, each flanked by incised floral motifs. An off-set bipartite window with pilaster mullion, stop-chamfered reveals and finialled pediment at second floor breaks both the eaves to the left and rises above them to the right.

The south-facing garden elevation displays advanced central bays flanked by engaged round tower bays. Four buttresses flank the garden entrance and lower ground floor windows of the advanced bays. Elsewhere, windows are shouldered. A projecting columned three-bay round-arched arcade serves the principal floor, with a balustraded section above forming a balcony for the first floor windows. At first floor level, two pilastered windows flank the centre as part of three-light canted corner windows set on chamfered angles. Mirrored pairs of round towers occupy the outer bays, each comprising shouldered single windows at ground floor, round-arched windows at principal floor, protruding cill course supporting six narrow lights at first floor, and a conical roof.

The west elevation includes a bowed corner bay at the outer right and a broad blank chimneybreast with contrasting geometric patterns near the penultimate right. Three regularly windowed bays occupy the left side, with a central advanced bay featuring chamfered angles at ground and first floors. A recessed bipartite window appears at ground floor, while at first floor a recessed round-arched single window with scalloped arch is present. A segmental-arched bipartite window with capitalled column-mullion breaks the eaves at second floor, set within a finialled Dutch gablehead.

The north elevation features a central bowed staircase bay.

Fenestration includes plate glass and four-pane sash and case windows throughout. The roof is grey slate with piended and gabled forms, decorated with fishscale banding. Distinctive gable-head stacks each contain individual flues linked by deep carved cornices, topped with crown cans. The building retains moulded eaves guttering, lead finials and numerous original rainwater goods, including a carved serpentine gargoyle.

The interior of the upper house is outstanding, featuring intricate internal planning with elaborately carved woodwork and moulded plasterwork throughout. The drawing room displays exceptionally rich French rococo decoration of later date. An elaborately carved Renaissance timber staircase is a notable feature. The lower house interior was not inspected as of 1990.

The property is enclosed by a high coped wall with pedestrian gateways. A double garage with grey slate piend roof is linked to the house.