Walled Garden, Hill House, Limekilns Road, Dunfermline

Hill House is a laird's house dated 1623, built in the early 17th century on an L-plan. The main structure comprises three storeys and an attic, with a slender square-plan full-height tower to the east, a west wing of slightly lower height, and an early 20th century single storey addition to the re-entrant angle. The building exemplifies Scottish Renaissance design with crowstepped gables (except for the finely coped example to the south), pedimented windows to the principal elevations, and an unusual canted stairtower with three exposed faces and a parapet of carved letters. The re-entrant elevations and south gable are finished in sandstone ashlar, whilst elsewhere the walls employ coursed sandstone rubble. Band courses run above the ground floor and a second floor cill band marks the principal elevations. Windows to the principal elevations and west gable end feature roll-and-hollow moulded architraves. First floor windows and above are pedimented to the principal elevations, mostly finished with finials displaying thistle, fleur-de-lys, and rose motifs, excepting a small second floor window to the south re-entrant and the top stage of the stairtower.

The south elevation, including the re-entrant, shows a projecting south gable with a window to each floor. The first floor window pediment retains only its thistle finial; those above have decorated tympana. A single storey addition adjoins to the left with an entrance displaying a cavetto-moulded reveal and a two-leaf panelled timber door, with a small mullioned bipartite window to its left. The west wing projects back from this point, presenting a pair of windows to both first and second floors, with tympana to the first floor examples decorated respectively with a figure (possibly an angel) with harp and a torso of a Jacobean man. Between these windows is a panel inscribed in Hebrew: "The Lord hath chosen them that fear him." A breaking-eaves dormer projects above to the left of the second floor. The canted stairtower at the re-entrant features a scrolled panel on its right face at the lower stage, dated 1623. Below this is a scrolled cartouche inscribed in Hebrew with its Latin equivalent: "Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness." Windows with decorated tympana pierce the outer faces of the first and second stages of the stairtower; those to the left have been blocked, whilst those to the right flank initials W.M. The lower stage's central face contains a blank panel. The top stage features a window to each face, with a balustrade of carved letters above reading "Except the Lord build the house." A panelled stone connecting pair of tall stacks to the north side of the stairtower carries an inscription in Hebrew and Latin: "This also is vanity and a great evil." A window to each of the first and second floors lights the left return of the south wing; only the rose finial survives from the pediment of the lower example.

The east elevation comprises a slender square-plan gabled tower to the left of centre, corbelled out very slightly over the ground floor with a small window to each upper floor. An enlarged window with plain architrave (formerly a door) pierces the ground floor. Identical arrangements appear on the left and right returns, with gable-headed breaking-eaves dormers to the attic—the right return example has been blocked with its gable removed, and the first floor window here has also been blocked. A narrow bay set back to the left features architraved windows to each floor. A gabled double bay set back to the outer right has modern steps leading to an architraved entrance (formerly a window, now fitted with a part-glazed timber door) to the left of the first floor, with a small architraved window to its left. Architraved windows pierce each remaining bay to the first and second floors, with a small architraved attic window to the right of the gable.

The north elevation is arranged in three bays. Large regularly disposed windows light each bay to the first floor, with those to the left featuring architraves and that to the right showing a droved and stugged surround. A later lean-to porch with entrance stands to the left return between the first and second bays, with windows to the left and three to the right of the ground floor, mainly later or altered with droved and stugged surrounds. A blocked former breaking-eaves dormer appears in the left bay of the second floor, with a pair of breaking-eaves dormers at the base of a shaped nepus gable off-right of the centre bay. An early 20th century single storey outbuilding projects to the outer right, featuring a gabled bay with curved skewputts and a triple almost-Palladian window arrangement (with a short upper light above the central one) to the left, and a lower-height piended-roofed auxiliary block to the right with a single window to the left.

The west elevation shows the gable end of the west wing projecting to the left, with windows to the right of the first and second floors; the ground floor is largely obscured by an early 20th century outbuilding set forward to the left. A three-bay flat-roofed section stands to the right of the outbuilding with an entrance featuring a panelled timber door to its right return and a single bay to a gabled section to the left with a short upper light to the gable of the right return. A lower-height piended-roofed auxiliary block projects forward to the outer left, with three entrances fitted with original panelled timber doors to its right return. An early 20th century single storey addition adjoins the gable end of the west wing to the right, with a window to the outer right, and a projecting wall adjoins a garage. The west elevation of the south wing and stairtower is set back as described under the south elevation.

Multi-pane timber sash and case windows are employed throughout the building. The roofs are covered in grey slate. Decorative details include a triple gablehead stack with band course to the south wing; a similar double wallhead stack to the tower at the re-entrant between the two main wings; a tall nepus stack with band course and shaped gable to the north elevation; gablehead stacks to each of the remaining three gables; and a ridge stack to the south wing. All stacks are corniced with band courses (mainly later work to the upper courses, which have been rebuilt), and round cans survive where they exist.

The interior retains the original turnpike staircase with a moulded entrance at its foot, originally the main entrance in the south face of the tower and repositioned when the early 20th century addition was constructed. Early carved stone fireplaces with roll-and-hollow moulded surrounds survive in the east tower, and a large segmental-headed fireplace appears in the kitchen. A later 17th century stone fireplace carved with festoons is located in the sitting room of the single storey extension and is said to have been brought from Culross Abbey House in Culross. An oval foliate plaster band in 17th century style adorns the first floor drawing room ceiling, probably an early 20th century addition. A salvaged marble fireplace with flanking Ionic columns and paterae was installed in the same room in the mid-20th century.

A walled garden lies to the north of the house, enclosed on three sides by a tall rubble wall which continues to the east.

A pair of square-plan gatepiers, probably of early 19th century date, stands at the entrance to the drive on Limekilns Road. These feature V-jointed ashlar chamfered at the arrises and corniced to their outer faces, with coursed sandstone elsewhere, pyramid caps, and cornices continuing as coping to angled wing walls. A pedestrian entrance pierces the left example. A minor set of later square-plan droved sandstone ashlar gatepiers with band courses and pyramid coping stands to the southwest of the house.