Garage Outbuilding, Preston Dene

Preston Dene is a house and former office block built in 1891 by the architect John Kinross as the residence of the Factor of the Preston Hall estate. Kinross (1855–1931) was well known for his publication "The Details of Italian Buildings, Chiefly Renaissance" (1882) and had previously worked for Sir Henry Callander at Rosemains House. The house was exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy in 1896 as a "farmhouse" and was described at the time of its construction as a "fine specimen of the more modern style of Elizabethan architecture."

The main house is an irregular 1½ and 2-storey L-plan structure in Arts and Crafts style, incorporating Queen Anne and 17th-century Scottish architectural details. It comprises two principal blocks and a single-storey extension. The building is constructed from coursed sandstone rubble with ashlar long and short quoins, cills and lintels. An angled base course runs to the ground floor, and a shaped eaves course with heavy detailing surmounts the walls. The roof features skew gables with scrolled putts.

The principal (SE) elevation displays three ashlar steps with flanking side walls leading to a central door with an architraved surround supporting a projecting rectangular pediment with semi-circular detail above. Wide windows flank the door on either side. A slightly projecting central cat-slide dormer rises to the upper storey, its interior rafters exposed. The heavy eaves course is topped by an ornamental brick stack with a stone base and three cans at the ridge centre left. Heavy stone skews with scrolled putts crown both gables. A window lights each floor of the left return, and an adjoining smaller gable rises to the right return. An inset rectangular stone with shield detail marks the left elevation.

The NE elevation features a slightly projecting gable end to the left with a blind lower floor. An architraved window with a curved triangular pediment above leads to a gablehead stack with architraved detailing and scrolled putts. A small window opens to the ground floor on the left return. The main block displays centrally placed paired windows to both storeys, the upper pair set within a catslide dormer roof with exposed rafters. A small square window with a narrow window below it occupies the far left. Paired windows light the first floor on the right return, and a door opens to the ground floor left. An adjoining single-storey block extends to the right.

The single-storey block features an architraved arched doorway with a projecting keystone. An eaves course with a coped top course leads toward the ground floor of the NW elevation.

The NW elevation shows the gable end of the main house adjoining the aforementioned single-storey platform-roofed extension. A pair of regularly placed windows punctuates the elevation (the right window is modern), while a blind wall faces the left return. A modern stone and timber octagonal conservatory has been added to the right return.

The SW elevation is principally L-shaped with a further gable set in a re-entrant angle. The main house displays paired windows to the ground floor and a small square window to the upper right and mid-left. An advanced re-entrant gable forms a stair tower, which is lit by a tall round-arched stair window with projecting margins, a prominent keystone and architraved details. An oculus opens to the ground floor left on the left return. The rear of the SE elevation adjoins to the right return.

The windows display unusual glazing patterns throughout: the timber sash and case windows to the main elevation of the ground floor contain 25 panes; the NE gable windows hold 15 panes; side elevation windows feature 20 panes with a heavy central timber mullion; rear windows comprise 12 panes, 4 panes and an oculus. The pitched slate roof to the main house features bell-cast eaves detailing and lead ridging. A piended slate roof covers the single-storey rear block. Painted cast-iron rainwater goods run throughout. High ashlar and brick moulded stacks, positioned diamond-set after the manner of Old College, Glasgow, are bridge-linked on a pedestal to the centre of the roofs.

The interior retains decorative plasterwork for which Kinross was renowned. A well-proportioned timber staircase and an original set of service bells survive, though the rooms have undergone modern reorganisation. Servant accommodation was originally provided at the upper level at the rear, accessed by a separate staircase reserved for household staff, while a formal staircase was reserved for the factor and his guests.

The former office block adjoins a rubble boundary wall. This irregular 1½-storey structure was originally designed as an office, garage and stable block, planned at the time of the main house's construction to serve the factor who conducted business there. It may be considered a large and functional reincarnation of a Queen Anne lodge. The building is constructed from coursed and random rubble with ashlar long and short quoins, sills and lintels. Later iron lintels span the garage openings, with some red brick in-fill.

The NE (principal) elevation of the office block features a garage or store room with 2-leaf timber doors (glazed at top) to the left. An adjacent former cart opening contains an inset brick wall with a timber and glazed door and paired windows to the right (a further timber door occupies the right wall). A timber gabled dormer aligns to the upper storey. A pair of rectangular windows occupies the right side, with a large timber hayloft entrance positioned above the left window, supported by a rectangular plinth rising from the eaves. A 2-leaf door infills the lower section. Prominent timber barge boards define the gable, and a modern lean-to store extends to the right return. The rear and left return present blind walls.

The office block windows display 12-pane glazing in timber sash and case windows. The slate roof features bell-cast eaves. Painted cast-iron rainwater goods are fitted throughout. A high ashlar and brick moulded stack, bridge-linked on a pedestal to the centre of the roof, crowns the building.

The house stands on the route of the old Haddington road and represents a fusion of Arts and Crafts, Queen Anne and 17th-century Scottish details, following the architect's earlier experiments such as The Red House. The design is central to the Preston Hall estate, situated near Preston Cottage, Red Row, Rose Mains, Remote and the east entrance to Prestonhall House. Early residents included Mr William McLennan and Mr Peter McIntyre, factors at Prestonhall in 1895 and 1901 respectively. The 2nd Edition Ordnance Survey map (circa 1895) depicts the house and stable block within a rectangular-plan garden ground, with a small triangular wooded patch adjoining to the rear.