Stables, The Bush House, Bush Estate

Bush House is a two-storey, irregular-plan classical country house built in squared and coursed sandstone with ashlar dressings. The main block dates from around 1750. It was re-orientated and remodelled in 1795, partly following earlier plans drawn up by Robert and James Adam in 1791, and further remodelled in 1895 by Sir Robert Rowand Anderson, who steepened the roof and added a northwest extension. Throughout, the elevations are defined by base, cill and dividing band courses, with an eaves cornice.

EXTERIOR

The southeast principal elevation has three bays with a central bow. The central doorway has an architrave and pediment, a two-leaf panelled door, and glazed two-leaf vestibule doors behind. A pair of Doric columns flank single windows to the left and right, with a cornice and balustrade above and single windows to the first-floor bow. The outer left and right bays have Venetian windows set within recessed round-arched panels at ground floor, with single windows above at first floor. The former stable court is recessed to the outer right.

The northeast side elevation is two storeys and five bays, with three bays projecting to the left. To the right is a pilastered stone door surround with cornice and lintel, a half-glazed door with matching sidelights and a semi-circular fanlight, windows to the side and above, and a blocked window at first-floor right. At ground-floor right this elevation adjoins the Adam Office Wing.

The northwest rear elevation is L-plan, incorporating the rear of both the 1795 and 1895 extensions. The main house section is two storeys with an attic and three bays, with regular fenestration. There is a six-panel replacement door to the bottom left, an original porch pilaster to the right (and on the left wall beside the door), an adjacent window and window above, paired windows to the right, and pedimented stone attic dormers to bays one and three. The 1795 extension to the left is single storey and three bays, with a modern glass and stone hexagonal extension abutting it and a ventilation dome to the roof. The 1895 extension to the right has irregular four-bay fenestration, a door to the ground-floor left, three wooden attic dormers, and modern replacement guttering.

The southwest side elevation is two storeys with attic dormers. To the right is the original five-bay house: the central three-bay block has scroll-pedimented dormers aligned to it and a projecting single-storey bay window at centre with three twelve-pane lights and a balustraded top. The projecting square end bays each have a twelve-pane sash window, a six-pane window with a string course directly above it, and a twelve-pane sash above that. There is a hipped slate roof and ten-can chimney stacks to the angles. To the left is the three-bay 1894 extension with regular fenestration, hoodmoulded windows, three scroll-pedimented dormers, and a four-can chimney stack to the right. The left return is a blind wall with a wallhead chimney with four cans and a piended roof, with a courtyard wall adjoining.

Windows throughout are twelve-pane wooden sash and case, though some are eight-pane. The main roof is piended slate, platformed on top, with a chimney stack to the middle.

INTERIOR

The interior contains three fireplaces salvaged from Dryden House, now demolished: one in marble and two in Adam-style timber and composition. There is timber panelling in the corridors, heavy mahogany door surrounds, and ornate cornicing to the principal rooms. The upper bay room has a decorative cornice and gilt pelmets. The main stairwell has open diamond metalwork balusters, a mahogany handrail, and a large plaster ceiling rose.

ADAM OFFICE WING, STABLES AND COURTYARD

Office Wing: Adjoining the main house to the right, the office wing is single storey and five bays. The first three bays have twelve-pane sash and case windows, the remainder eight-pane. The projecting square end bay to the right has a pedimented nine-pane sash window with scroll supports and timber in-fill to the top of the sash window. There is a part-matching bay to the left adjoining the main house, a low parapet, and modern guttering and downpipes.

Stables: Designed by Robert and James Adam and dating from around 1795, the stables are L-plan and single storey, with a coach block whose roof was replaced around 1870. Arches have been later in-filled.

The west range has an in-filled central arch with a modern door and triangular pediment. To the left are a door and two windows, previously doors. To the right are three windows and two doors, with modern replacement guttering. To the rear there is regular fenestration, a through-passage door, and an abutting single-storey range with timber and glazed in-fill to the cart openings and a slate piended roof. Adjoining this is a lean-to garage on the wall of an earlier structure, with stone ball finials to either end, a return window to the right, and a corrugated modern roof.

The north range has a central coach house with triple glazed in-filled arches, pilasters between, a string course, a triangular pediment, an inset round clock, and a weathervane. To the left is a three-bay section with a central door; to the right is a further three-bay section. To the rear of the central coach house, a part-obscured in-filled single arch has a window to each flank and a string course. Above are second-storey windows to each side, a square parapet facade with a moulded inset plaque and triangular pediment, a central chimney stack with two cans, and a modern boiler room block extension to the arch in-fill. There are three-bay sections to the flanks.

Laundry House: Adjacent to the west range of the stables, the Laundry House is two storeys and two bays in coursed rubble with skew gables. The east elevation has a central six-panel door with a plain rectangular fanlight, a single window to each flank, and three bays to the first floor at eaves level. Under the central bay lintel is an inscribed stone reading PRETIO PRUDENTIA. The north elevation adjoins the stable courtyard. The west elevation is two storeys and three bays, with a central glazed door, single windows to the flanks, and projecting surrounds. The south elevation is a gable end, single bay, with in-filled windows and carved projecting stone surrounds. Windows are twelve-pane timber sash and case. The roof is piended slate with stacks to the gables carrying three cans each, and replacement plastic rainwater goods.

Walls and Gates: A broken coursed ashlar wall adjoins the Laundry House and main house. Round gatepiers have conical caps, and there are decorative double wrought-iron gates. An inset marble memorial plaque is set into the exterior wall.

This group has group value with the Former Gardener's Cottage, Gatepiers and Screen Walls.

HISTORY

The site was originally known as the Haggs and suffered from poor drainage. It was owned by the Moubray family from 1722 to 1746, and a map of 1745 shows the policies as one of the few planted areas in Midlothian. Archibald Trotter married Jean Moubray, and Bush House was built on the site of the older farmhouse, though it was substantially different from what survives today. His son Robert Trotter (1749–1807) extended and improved the property, calling in Robert and James Adam to draw up plans. Although these plans were not followed exactly, a new dining room and drawing room, a semi-circular open porch, the main staircase, a stable block, and an office wing were added at a combined cost of £3,800. The original Adam plans still exist in the Soane Museum. In 1894–95, Alexander E. C. Trotter commissioned Sir Robert Rowand Anderson to steepen the pitch of the roof, enclose the porch, add a bay window to the morning room, and build a bedrooms and billiard room extension to the northwest end of the house; interior features were also improved at this time. The Trotter family also owned Dryden House, which had become uninhabitable in 1848. From Dryden House they removed grand fireplaces for the principal rooms, tiles for the hall floor, and stair balusters that were reused as library bookshelves at Bush. The Trotters owned Bush House until the mid-20th century, since when the policies have been used by the Edinburgh Centre of Rural Economy and also contain many newly built structures. The house is now the headquarters of the Electrical Contractors Association of Scotland. The 1868 walled garden still exists to the rear, and the grounds retain planned landscape features including wooded areas and the Pine Garden to the northeast of the house, with its serpentine lake.