House And Gate Piers, Granton

Granton House and Gate Piers is a small mansion, likely designed by architect Walter Newall, built between 1830 and 1840. It features a symmetrical layout with a Greek Revival style, consisting of a principal range that serves as a farm steading. The building is two storeys high with a piend roof and is rectangular in shape, centered around a slightly taller square hall that has a pediment and rises above the roof platform. Each elevation has a pedimented inner bay that is slightly advanced, except for the north side, where the plain wall of an 18th-century house is incorporated. The structure is built of squared whin rubble laid in graded courses, with painted ashlar dressings.

The windows are architraved throughout, except in the basement and on the asymmetrical north elevation. The east and west elevations each have five bays, with the main entrance on the former elevation featuring a pedimented massive doorpiece located between the ground and basement. This entrance is approached by steps with battered square piers, and includes a deeply recessed door with a tall fanlight, as well as corniced windows at the ground level. The south elevation has three bays, with tripartite windows at the ground level that have consoled hoods. The building also features wide angle margins, an eaves course, a cornice, and end stacks with octagonal flues. The central tower is pedimented on the north and south sides, with fireclay flues over acroteria and round-headed windows on each elevation. The roofs are piended slate with a leaded platform, and there is an arcaded low garden balustrade to the south.

Inside, a vestibule with steps leads to the central square hall at the base of the tower, with doors leading off to other rooms. The first-floor rooms are accessed from a passageway that is lit by the encircling tower. An 18th-century plain staircase and rooms with original cornices are preserved on the north side. A good 18th-century chimney piece has been reused in the central south-facing ground floor room, while most of the 19th-century chimney pieces are made of marble, including a brass fireplace in the hall. The first-floor chimney pieces are arranged with pilasters supporting an entablature. The interior also features good 19th-century cornice plasterwork and ceiling roses. To the west, there are two octagonal painted ashlar gate piers topped with projecting pointed caps.