Whittingehame House

Whittingehame House

A Greek-style neo-classical mansion designed by Sir Robert Smirke in 1817, substantially enlarged and altered over the following decades. The principal structure is rendered in ashlar Cullalo sandstone with squared red and cream rubble to the service court basement. The building rises two storeys with attic and basement levels, featuring a moulded cornice, balustraded parapet with dies, and architraved windows with cornices to the principal floors.

The northeast elevation, which faces the entrance, presents a symmetrical nine-bay main block dominated by a tripartite fluted Doric portico with full classical entablature. The original portico was modified in 1881 when the garden front was filled with a bow window and the entrance portico itself was interweaved with canted bays. The three central bays contain tripartite windows flanked by broad pilasters, with an attic storey above. Single windows of varying heights occupy the remaining bays, taller to the ground floor. Three additional ground floor bays to the outer right, with balustrade, link to a single-storey pavilion with fluted Doric columns and pediment, extending three bays deep with blind windows to the centre and left.

William Burn made substantial additions in 1827, including a superimposed base course, balustrade, and pilasters flanking the centre bays to both front and rear elevations, alongside additional floors to the service court and north pavilion. In 1881, further alterations included the addition of a garden balustrade and canted bays. John Farquharson of Haddington added a glazed first floor and pentice-roofed corridor by the service court in 1896.

The southwest garden elevation is symmetrical over nine bays with an attic storey above the centre seven. A bowed window at ground floor centre, formerly a loggia, features a flight of steps and balustraded parapet. The centre bay displays tripartite windows with flanking pilasters. Three bays on either side of the centre contain single windows to each floor, while the slightly advanced outer bays feature segmentally arched panels at ground level with tripartite windows and French windows to the outer right bay. Tripartite first floor windows occupy the outer bays. A blind arcaded curtain wall of five bays extends to the outer left with a doorway to the service court, linking to a pedimented temple-fronted garden pavilion advanced to the far left.

The northwest elevation forms a U-plan service court to the right with a two-storey, three-bay piend-roofed building to the outer right backing the garden pavilion on higher ground. Seven irregular bays to the left, two storeys and basement, display Cullalo ashlar to the tallest upper storey, with blind windows and doorways subsequently blocked as windows.

The southeast elevation is a three-bay symmetrical elevation arranged in steps. An advanced centre balustraded bay at ground floor features a segmental panel and tripartite window, with recessed bays at first and attic floor set back behind the centre and outer bays. The outer balustraded bays advance to a lesser degree than the centre bay at ground and first floor levels, with single windows. The roof is finished with grey slates and moulded coping to roof stacks.

The sash and case windows retain small-pane glazing, with plate glass to the ground floor windows of the garden front.

Interior

The interior is notable for high ceilings and large rooms, particularly at ground floor level. The second library and Drawing Room are among Burn's contributions. The stairwell features a cantilevered stone stair with decorative cast-iron railings bearing gilded anthemion ornament. At first floor landing level, a triple arcade of round-arched niches with ornate classical corbels is displayed. Marble chimneypieces and decorative plaster ceilings are evident throughout. The main floor includes round-arched sections to a cross-axial corridor.

Alterations were made circa 1910 by Thackeray Turner and Eustace Balfour. Further modifications followed for school purposes, largely reversed during conversion to flats in 1987–88. The building was subdivided in 1988.

Terrace Walls and Sundial

Cream ashlar sandstone balustrades with dies and steps surround the house to the south, southeast, and southwest, dating from circa 1881.

A sundial is positioned by the southwest elevation. The octagonal ashlar base is stepped and supports an octagonal panelled pedestal from which eight polished black granite columns rise, supporting a frieze with inscription taken from Omar Khayyam ("Lo the bird is on the wing and lo the bird has little way to fly") below an octagonal table top. The sundial itself is missing.