Hailes House, Hailes Avenue, Edinburgh

Hailes House, Hailes Avenue, Edinburgh

A Palladian villa designed by Sir James Clerk of Penicuik around 1760, later substantially altered. The building presents as a 3-bay composition with an exposed basement, two storeys and an attic, constructed in squared and coursed sandstone rubble with ashlar dressings. Prominent wallhead stacks with scrolled shoulders and blind oculi punctuate the side elevations. A later 2-storey library wing extends to the west, built in squared random rubble with droved ashlar dressings, while a 3-storey canted bay projects from the south elevation. The roof is a later steep piended design with flat-roofed dormers topped with red tiles to the main house and graded grey slate to the west wing.

The principal north elevation centres on a 2-leaf half-glazed timber door with gothic-arched glazing in the fanlight, topped by a roll-moulded architrave and consoled cornice. A perron stair with barley-twist cast-iron railings leads to the entrance. Above stands a later canted bay, with regularly spaced windows to the principal floor featuring roll-moulded corniced architraves. The attic storey displays a central bipartite dormer flanked by canted dormers.

The east side elevation features an advanced 2-storey library wing with two timber-boarded doors at ground level and flanking windows. The main floor is timber-panelled and slightly jettied, with a deeper bracketed overhang to the left.

The south garden elevation reveals the main house in three bays with a 3-storey canted bay to the right. Droved ashlar stonework marks the ground storey, which includes an arched doorway with prominent keystone. A later tripartite mullioned window appears at the top floor to the left, with regular fenestration elsewhere. A later central pedimented gable crowns the attic at centre, flanked by canted dormers. The library wing extends to the outer right with a canted bay corbelled out at first floor, flanked by windows and a glazed door at ground. A long irregularly fenestrated 2-storey wing extends to the outer left.

The west elevation is irregularly fenestrated with a flat-roofed single-storey outshot at ground level and a long wing extending from the right. The wing's north elevation features a central door, a small lean-to outshot with coped skews to the left, irregular fenestration, and a gablehead stack to the west.

Windows throughout predominantly feature 12- and 9-pane glazing in timber sash and case pattern, with 6-pane glazing in timber casements to the dormers. Long and short quoins and ashlar window margins characterise the masonry detailing, with droved ashlar quoins marking the west wing windows.

The interior contains richly decorated principal spaces. The entrance hall features decorative cornicing, two elliptical arches, and a marble fireplace carved with swagged flowers and a cast-iron grate. A curved cantilevered staircase rises with later barley-twist cast-iron balusters and timber handrail. The former drawing room displays a canted window and bowed alcove, with an Adam-style grotesque plasterwork ceiling incorporating two tablets of classical scenes, a marble fireplace with Doric pilasters and decorative cast-iron jambs, and a decorative cornice. The former library retains decorative plasterwork to a partly sloping ceiling, a decorative cornice, and original fireplace. A front room features a carved timber chimneypiece and large cast-iron grate. Timber-panelled doors throughout include some with original brass door furniture, and principal rooms display decorative cornices.