23 Pentland Avenue, Edinburgh

23 Pentland Avenue, Edinburgh

A substantial house designed by Sir Robert Lorimer in 1893-4 with further work in 1896, and later additions. The building is predominantly two-storey with a stepped double L-plan, combining English Arts and Crafts features with traditional Scottish detailing. The stable and service wing extends to the northeast, with the main body of the house to the southwest. A stair turret stands to the north, adjacent to the front door, and a swept-roof verandah with piended bays projects to the south. The exterior is cream-painted harl over sandstone rubble with sandstone ashlar cills.

The north elevation presents a stepped frontage composed of a piend-roofed bay with a central window. The entrance is deeply recessed, with a conical turret to the right. A single-storey link with a depressed-arch entrance extends to the left, adjoining a single-storey and attic piend-roofed former coach house and stable. The entrance features a half-glazed timber-panelled front door in a simple roll-moulded architrave with 1893 inscribed on the lintel and an original brass bell. A small window sits to the left of the door, with a flat-roofed porch above decorated with carved work. A later half-glazed door with a mini-pediment leads to the porch roof. The advanced stair turret to the right of the door contains a tall staircase window. A two-window section extends further right. The western return of the central piended section has a tripartite casement and small slit-window at ground level, with a tripartite flat-roofed dormer at attic level. Two bays mark the western return of the former stable: a two-leaf timber boarded coach house door to the left with a later flat-roofed dormer above, and a depressed arch entrance with sandstone margins and a later recessed timber boarded door to the right, above which is a half-glazed timber hayloft door.

The western side elevation features a gable to the left with a lean-to ingleneuk at ground level and a prominent off-centre stack above. A bipartite casement at first floor sits to the left of the stack. A piended section to the right has a single bipartite casement at ground level.

The principal south elevation facing the garden contains a swept-roof verandah, now glazed in, to the centre with a bowed window at the rear and a half-glazed timber-panelled door to the left. A six-light flat-roofed dormer rises above. An advanced jerkin-headed bay to the left projects outward at first-floor level, with a five-light window at ground level and a four-light window at first floor. A piend-roofed bay to the right (its first floor appears to be a later addition) has deep eaves, with a single window at ground level and a large five-light window at first floor with hung tiles below.

The eastern side elevation is irregularly fenestrated, with an asymmetric gable to the left and a later lean-to addition to the centre. A flat-roofed kitchen extension dated 1896 has a coped parapet wall with a ball-finial and modern glazed doors, with a dormered casement above. An irregularly fenestrated link wing and stable extend to the outer right. The southern elevation of the stable features a piended roof rising to a small gable with false dovecot openings and a weather-cock above. An advanced wallhead stack projects from the eastern elevation of the stable, with later dormers and small hopper windows at ground level.

Windows throughout are predominantly timber casements with leaded glazing, with some timber sash and case windows featuring small-pane glazing. Stacks are rendered with red sandstone copes and tall red clay cans. The roof is covered in red tiles with red ridge tiles. An iron boot-scraper stands by the front door.

The interior contains timber panelling to the hall. The drawing room features a corner timber chimneypiece with a later marble inset, working shutters to the windows, and bookshelves flanking the main window. A two-leaf door separates the drawing room from the dining room. The dining room has an advanced chimney breast with flanking cupboards and a roll-moulded sandstone chimneypiece with a narrow timber outer frame and decorative cast-iron grate, with a separate mantelshelf above and over-mantel frame. The study contains a panelled ingleneuk with a corner chimneypiece. The staircase features shaped flat balusters with pilasters and an original plaster boss at the top. Timber chimneypieces with cast-iron grates are fitted in all bedrooms. A slate shelf is located in the larder.

The property is enclosed by a coped random rubble boundary wall with timber gates.