7 Pentland Avenue, Edinburgh

This is a late Arts and Crafts style house built in 1906 by Henry F Kerr, situated on a sloping site in Edinburgh. The house is three storeys high and features an asymmetrical design with a prominent swept roof on the north side, a large sandstone stack on the west side, and a sweeping asymmetrical gable. The exterior is predominantly painted render with red sandstone dressings. A notable feature is the three-storey, five-light polygonal canted window at the southwest corner, accented by hung tiles at its base. A two-storey timber verandah/balcony and several bargeboarded gables are positioned on the south side.

The north (entrance) elevation is stepped and has an irregular arrangement of windows. An asymmetric gable is centrally located, with the roof sloping downwards to the right. A bracketed canted window is set into the first floor. The front door is within a recessed, swept-roof bay, framed by a roll-moulded red sandstone architrave with three semi-circular steps leading up to it. A tile-hung dormer is situated above the doorway on the first floor. There’s a narrow, recessed bay to the outer right and a stepped gable to the left of centre, featuring a tripartite window at ground level and a canted window with a tile-hung base on the first floor. Steps lead to a basement below, and a double window is visible on the right return. A single-storey scullery projects to the outer left, with a timber-boarded side door.

The west (side) elevation displays a gable end with a projecting stack and an asymmetrical shouldering with sandstone dressings on the second floor. An octagonal, channelled, and corniced sandstone stack rises above. The three-storey polygonal canted window returns at the southwest corner.

The south (principal/garden) elevation features advanced polygonal canted windows to the outer left and an advanced gabled bay to the right containing a five-light window at first floor, a four-light window at second floor, and a decorative plaster rondel in the gable apex. A five-bay timber verandah with a roofed balcony is centrally placed, with windows and glazed doors to the rear of both the verandah and balcony. A half-timbered gable on the right side of the central section includes two bipartite windows on the second floor.

The east (side) elevation is irregularly fenestrated. A two-storey swept-roof section is advanced to the right, with a timber-boarded door leading to the cellar. An asymmetrically shouldered stack is advanced to the left, with a timber-boarded back door situated to its right. A small, half-timbered, bargeboarded gable is centrally positioned.

The windows are predominantly timber sash and case, with small panes in the upper sashes and plate glass in the lower sashes. Stacks are rendered and corniced, with some red clay cans. The roof is red tile with red ridge tiles. Decorative cast-iron downpipes are present, along with some decorative brackets.

Inside, the principal rooms overlook the garden. A timber staircase has square balusters with turned tops and urn-shaped finials on the newel posts. Decorative glazing is found in the dining room ceiling. Folding doors connect the study and drawing room. Original fireplaces remain, as do a housemaids sink with scrolled brackets in a service corridor, an original dresser in the butler’s pantry, and a former laundry room containing a tripal porcelain sink and timber dresser base.

A coped random rubble boundary wall marks the site perimeter. Steps and a terrace lead to the garden to the northeast of the house, with a terrace and random rubble retaining wall.