Glenbrook House, Glenbrook Road, Balerno, Edinburgh

Glenbrook House, Glenbrook Road, Balerno, Edinburgh

Glenbrook House is an early 19th century dwelling with mid 19th century additions, constructed as a single storey building on a rectangular plan. The original structure consists of a 3-bay cottage block, with later pavilion bays added to both the right and left sides, creating a 5-bay composition overall. The centre block is heavily stone-cleaned and repointed rubble, while the pavilion sections are finished in painted harled render.

The main north-east elevation features 3 bays slightly advanced at the centre, with a timber porch to the door having a half-pagoda form and copper roof. The door itself is 9-panelled and flush, with a 6-pane fanlight. Flanking windows have swept lead canopies supported on timber corbels. A half-piended, canted wallhead dormer sits at the centre, with a modern rooflight to the left. The outer left block is taller, with a blind lancet window at ground floor centre and a bipartite piend-roofed dormerhead above. The outer right block is recessed, with a window at ground floor centre, a small window to the corner left, and a half-piend dormer at centre. A shouldered stack rises to the right.

The south-west rear elevation is L-shaped with asymmetrical composition. A 3-bay single storey block to the left has an advanced wing to the outer right. A modern door stands at ground floor outer left, with a bipartite window off-centre to the right, a blocked door immediately adjacent, and a narrow door at the re-entrant angle. A square dormer sits at the centre with a shouldered stack immediately to the left, and a piend-roofed dormer above the door. A 2-storey wing with jerkin roof and exposed rafters is advanced to the outer right, featuring a canted window at ground floor and a tripartite window at first floor. A lean-to timber conservatory extends to the outer right.

The south-east elevation comprises a 2-bay block with a timber lean-to conservatory at ground floor outer left, and pointed arch windows symmetrically placed at first floor. A 2-bay block advanced to the outer right has bipartite square dormerheads and a single window at ground floor outer right.

The windows throughout are predominantly 12-pane and 4-pane sash and case windows, with 6-pane casement windows serving the dormers and dormerheads, except for the main elevation dormer which has an 8-pane sash and case window. The roof is finished in grey slate with ashlar coping to mutual skews. Ridge stacks are rendered and coped, while tall shouldered and coped stacks rise on the right block.

Two rectangular-plan outbuildings stand to the north-west of the house. The one nearest the house has been substantially altered, with cement render, concrete dressings and margins, a corrugated roof, a lead finial at the south-west gable, and an altered roof level.

A barn running parallel to the outer left is more intact, dating to the early 19th century with some later alterations and additions. This is a single storey rectangular-plan outbuilding of semi-ecclesiastical appearance, with a concrete cross finial at the south-west and a pyramidal finial at the north-east gable. It is built of rubble with droved ashlar margins and dressings, brick infill at the upper stages of the north-east elevation, and quoin strips.

The south-west elevation features a boarded hoist door at centre, and a margined, half-lozenge flight-hole at the centre of the gablehead, surmounted by a concrete cross apex finial. The south-east elevation has 5 asymmetrical bays with a door to the outer right, 2 windows at the centre, a door at the penultimate bay to the outer left with a window to the outer left bay. The upper stage above the openings is infilled with hand-made brick. A gully runs immediately along this elevation.

The upper stage windows are 4-pane above timber boarding. The roof is finished in grey slate with rooflights and ashlar coping to the skews.

Paired octagonal ashlar gatepiers with cornices and octagonal pyramidal caps flank the entrance. Cast-iron gates and pedestrian gates feature pointed railings with a decorative band of pierced quatrefoils.