West Outbuilding, Arniston House

Arniston House is an exceptionally fine Palladian country house, the main block designed by William Adam between 1726 and 1733, with the west jamb and orangery added by John Adam between 1754 and 1758. A porch was added by Wardrop and Reid in 1872, and the north pediment was rebuilt by Robert Rowand Anderson in the late 19th century. The house comprises a three-storey-and-basement, nine-bay corps de logis connected by two-storey, three-bay links to two-storey, three-bay pavilions. The walls are built in tooled coursed pinkish sandstone rubble, originally harled, with polished dressings; the wings are in random rubble. Detailing throughout includes a base course, a dividing band course between the basement and ground floors, long-and-short V-jointed rusticated quoins, relieving arches, and a moulded eaves course.

NORTH (ENTRANCE) ELEVATION

The north elevation is symmetrical. On the corps de logis, the bays are grouped 2-5-2. Advanced to the centre of the ground floor is a single-storey, three-bay tooled coursed ashlar porch of 1872 by Wardrop and Reid. This has a round-arched doorway to the centre with a Gibbs surround, flanked by engaged Tuscan columns and surmounted by an open pediment enclosing a scrolled cartouche bearing the initials "RD" (for Robert Dundas). The door itself is a two-leaf panelled timber door. The flanking bays of the porch have round-arched niches, also with Gibbs surrounds, set on Tuscan pilasters, with clasping Tuscan blocked pilaster buttresses at the angles. The left and right returns of the porch feature Venetian windows, blocked pilasters at the angles, and a continuous moulded cornice with a coped balustrade. Round-arched windows sit above small basement windows at the re-entrant angles of the porch.

On the first floor of the corps de logis, the three centre bays have niches with keystones. Above these, on the second floor, are three architraved windows surmounted by a carved pediment rebuilt around 1890, enclosing the Dundas and Oliphant coat of arms and supported on four engaged Ionic columns. The two flanking bays have regular fenestration. The outer bays are advanced and contain small windows with rusticated surrounds at basement level, windows with keystone and Gibbs surrounds at ground-floor level, a dividing band course, architraved windows with keystones at first-floor level, and windows with moulded surrounds at second-floor level. A continuous dentil-moulded cornice runs above with a coped balustrade.

The links are angled and symmetrical, two storeys and three bays, having been raised from a single storey by Wardrop and Reid in 1877. The centre of each link has a polygonal-headed doorway with a Gibbs surround — glazed on the left link and panelled on the right — surmounted by a pediment. Pilasters support a basket-arched frame at the angles. The flanking bays at ground-floor level have octagonal windows with Gibbs surrounds, with a single window above each, fitted with a keystone and moulded surround. There is a moulded cornice with a coped balustrade and urn finials.

The pavilions are symmetrical. Their north elevations have regular fenestration. The three-bay inside returns have Venetian windows to the centre of the ground floor with regular fenestration to the flanking bays, and two small windows to the centre of the first floor with regular fenestration to the flanking bays.

WEST ELEVATION

The west elevation of the main block is symmetrical, two storeys and basement, six bays. The basement has nine-pane windows with keystones and rusticated surrounds; the ground floor has pedimented windows with moulded surrounds. The outer left bay at basement and ground-floor levels is masked by the link. The upper floors have architraved windows.

The west elevation of the pavilion is four bays wide. At ground-floor level there is an infilled doorway to the centre, a panelled timber door with a two-pane fanlight to the right, and a window to the outer right. Two small windows occupy the centre two bays at first-floor level, with windows to the outer right and left bays. A later wing is advanced to the outer right; the west elevation of this wing was not inspected in 1997. The left return, which is the courtyard elevation, is dated 1888 on a shouldered wallhead stack and has a glazed door to the left bay at ground-floor level with regular fenestration elsewhere.

SOUTH ELEVATION

The south elevation is symmetrical. The corps de logis is built in tooled random rubble and is seven bays wide, grouped 2-3-2. A perron stair of around 1800 leads to a three-bay flat-roofed porch advanced through the basement and ground floors, also dating from around 1800. This porch has six-pane barred windows at basement level, blind to the centre, with a balustraded dividing band course above. Each bay of the ground floor has a large window flanked by engaged Corinthian columns supporting a moulded frieze. Glazed two-leaf timber doors with two-pane fanlights are set in the left and right returns, reached by balustraded swept stone steps of around 1800. The flanking bays have regular fenestration at both basement and ground-floor levels. Three round-arched windows with keystones occupy the centre three bays; above these, three nine-pane windows break the eaves cornice at second-floor level. Surmounting all this is a pediment incorporating the carved Scottish Royal Coat of Arms with thistle and rose and the motto "NEMO ME IMPUNE LACESSET", topped by a pair of sphinxes.

On the south elevation, the left link is five bays wide, with the bays to the left obscured by trees. The penultimate bay to the right has a window with a moulded surround and keystone at first-floor level and a small window to the outer right of the ground floor. The flanking bays have windows at first-floor level. Pilasters support a basket-arched frame at the angles, and there is a blocking course with stone urns at the angles.

The right link has a doorway set off-centre to the right of the centre bay, with a two-leaf timber door reached by stone steps and a window to the centre of the first floor above. Windows occupy the centre of the flanking bays at first-floor level, and there is a barred window set off-centre to the left of the ground floor in the right bay. Pilasters support a basket-arched frame at the angles, and there is a blocking course with stone urns at the angles. The left bay of the right return has two windows at ground-floor level, a blank panel above, and windows at both ground and first-floor levels in the right bay. The recessed bay to the outer right has a window at ground-floor level and a blind window at first-floor level.

EAST ELEVATION

The east elevation of the main block is symmetrical, six bays wide, with regular fenestration to all floors. The outer right bays at basement and ground-floor levels are masked by the link, and the floors above have blind windows at first and second-floor levels.

The east elevation of the pavilion is asymmetrical and five bays wide. At ground-floor level there are large round-arched doorways to the centre bay, the penultimate bay to the right, and the outer right bay. The centre bay and the penultimate bay to the right have glazed two-leaf doors; the outer right bay has a garage opening flanked by a small window. The penultimate bay to the left has an infilled round-arched doorway, and the outer left bay is blank. Fenestration to the first floor is irregular.

ORANGERY AND WEST OUTBUILDINGS

Dating from around 1753, the orangery and west outbuildings are two storeys in height and were originally U-plan, with the courtyard now roofed over. They are linked to the west of the house by a single-storey lean-to with a corrugated iron roof and two two-leaf boarded timber doors on the north elevation. A random rubble wall with polished gatepiers stands to the north of the lean-to, forming a courtyard to the rear of the pavilion.

The north elevation of the outbuildings is asymmetrical and seven bays wide. Round-arched doorways with impost detail are found to the centre bay and the penultimate bays to the left and right, with a further doorway to the bay to the right of centre. The bay to the left of centre has a window flanked by two windows to its right. The outer right bay has a blind window; the outer left bay has a window flanked by a small window to the right. Large louvred openings occupy the penultimate bay to the right and the outer right bay, with regular fenestration elsewhere.

The west elevation is three bays wide. The centre bay was originally an open courtyard and is now covered by a gable timber roof. The inside left return has irregular fenestration. The bay to the right of centre has an infilled doorway set off-centre to the left at ground-floor level and a blind window above. The outer right bay contains the Venetian doorway to the orangery, set in a recessed round arch, fitted with a boarded glazed two-leaf timber door with an eight-pane fanlight.

The south elevation is the orangery itself: seven bays, symmetrical, built in droved snecked sandstone rubble with polished dressings. The centre bay has a round-arched doorway set in a recessed round arch, with a boarded glazed two-leaf timber door with an eight-pane fanlight. The remaining bays have round-arched windows with long-and-short voussoirs and impost details.

The east elevation is seven bays and near-symmetrical. The centre of the ground floor has a large window opening flanked by two panelled timber doors, with regular fenestration to the three central bays of the first floor. The outer bays are advanced; the ground-floor areas of the penultimate bay to the left and the outer left bay are obscured by the lean-to described above, with regular fenestration at first-floor level. The penultimate bay to the right has a window at ground-floor level; the outer right bay has a doorway at ground level and a single window at first-floor level. There is a small rooflight to the centre.

STABLES, EAST OUTBUILDINGS AND EAST COURTYARD

The stables and east outbuildings are two storeys and U-plan. They are linked to the east of the house at the rear of the pavilion by a random rubble wall to the south, fitted with a boarded timber door, and a coursed rubble coped wall to the north that sweeps down to the east and is terminated by polished gatepiers with spherical caps at the far east. Together these walls form a cobbled courtyard in which the mounting block remains in place.

The north elevation is nine bays and near-symmetrical. Round-arched doorways with two-leaf boarded timber doors and five-pane fanlights are found to the third and seventh bays from the left at ground-floor level. The remaining ground-floor bays have regular fenestration, as do four of the five first-floor windows, the exception being the outer right window which breaks the eaves.

The west elevation is seven bays and asymmetrical. The centre bay and the flanking bay to its left at ground-floor level have wide round-arched doorways with glazed boarded timber doors, now used as garages. A 20th-century lean-to addition is advanced to the flanking bay to the right, with a window and a boarded timber door to its left return and a slate roof. There is a piended dormer to the centre of the first floor and a small four-pane window to the flanking bay to the right. The outer bays are advanced and each has a doorway with a relieving arch at ground level fitted with a boarded timber door, with a piended dormer above at first-floor level. There is also a piended dormer to the penultimate bay to the right at first-floor level; the penultimate bay to the left is blank. A pall stone sits at the outer left corner.

The south elevation is partially obscured by trees and is seven bays wide, with a round-arched window with impost detail to each bay.

The east elevation is three bays wide, with the centre bay recessed. The inside returns are obscured by two timber lean-to additions. The inside right return has a window opening breaking the eaves with a cat-slide roof. The outer right bay has windows set off-centre to the right at both ground and first-floor levels. The outer left bay has a large opening with a metal lintel at ground level and a window opening set off-centre to the left at first-floor level.

The east courtyard is enclosed by walls of tooled snecked rubble with droved dressings and polished ashlar coping on the south, east, and north sides, with the outbuildings and stables to the west. There is an opening to the west of the north wall. A lean-to shelter with a corrugated iron roof stands against the inside of the north wall. The floor is cobbled.

WINDOWS AND ROOFS

Windows throughout are predominantly twelve-pane timber sash and case, with thicker astragals largely dating from the original William Adam scheme. Roofs are piended grey slate with lead ridges. Ridge stacks are primarily double and triple corniced ashlar with circular cans. Rainwater goods are mainly cast iron, with some lead downpipes and decorative hoppers.

INTERIOR

The entrance hall is arcaded through two storeys and features baroque plasterwork by Joseph Enzer, carried out between 1730 and 1735. It contains a clock dated 1592 from the original tower house, now housed in an 18th-century case by Francis Brodie of Edinburgh. The Oak Room has fine panelling, a basket-arched William Adam fireplace with late 19th-century overmantles, and opens into a porch of around 1800 leading to the garden. The old library on the second floor has plasterwork by Enzer including an elaborate frieze and plaster vaults; the original bookcases are now grained and house a porcelain collection. The dining room (restored 1995) and drawing room (restored 1997) are in the west range by John Adam, dating from 1753. The plasterwork in the drawing room was designed by John Adam and executed by Philip Robertson in 1762 and 1763. The new library was designed by Thomas Brown and Adam Lumsden between 1866 and 1868 and has a fireplace in the Jacobean style inscribed "ELD 1868 RD". The remains of a railway from the old kitchen to the dining room also survive.

HA-HA

A stone ha-ha runs east to west to the north of the house.

SUNDIAL

To the centre of the south lawn stands a sundial of circular plan. The base of the shaft is ornamented with egg-and-dart carving; the base of the waisted neck has gadrooning; and the gnomon is ornamented with a raised thistle.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

Arniston House is regarded as an exceptionally fine example of a country house designed, in the words of Sir John Clerk of Penicuik, for "convenience and use." The land originally formed part of King Malcolm's hunting grounds from Edinburgh Castle. It changed hands several times before the most significant portion was purchased in 1571 by George Dundas, 16th Laird of the Dundas Estate, as an inheritance for his son James — born of his second marriage to Katherine Oliphant — given that his first marriage had already provided an heir to the family estate at South Queensferry. The union of the Dundas and Oliphant families is represented by the elephant of the Oliphant family and the lion of the Dundas family on the North Lodges. James took possession of the estate around 1600, and the original house is thought to have been built around 1620 as a U-plan building with a large walled garden. James also extended the estate by purchasing farms including Castleton. His grandson Robert inherited the estate in 1679 and, on returning from exile in Holland in 1689, began to improve Arniston with the intention of building a new house and improving the grounds in the manner of the Continental mansions he had seen abroad. Improvements to the gardens were begun, but it was Robert's son, also named Robert, who commissioned William Adam to design the new mansion house.

William Adam's design was clearly influenced by James Gibbs's design for Down Hall in Essex, though it was by no means a copy. Adam was also inspired by the ideas of Sir John Clerk of Penicuik, for whom he had designed Mavisbank (completed in 1727). Clerk's poem The Country Seat described the useful country house — which Arniston undoubtedly exemplified — as a design of good taste "blending of the cultivated with the natural senses" (A. A. Tait, p.132). Adam's design was based on the foundations of the existing 17th-century house. The original entrance was through a three-bay temple front with a rusticated ground floor and round-arched openings, now masked by the 1872 porch addition. Three niches above — intended to contain portrait busts — still survive. The remainder of the house was originally harled rubble with single-storey passages to the service pavilions.

Construction was not completed until the mid-18th century, as Robert ran out of funds; by this time William Adam had died, and his son John Adam took on the commission in 1753 for Robert, 4th Lord Arniston. John Adam was responsible for the west range, which he adapted to contemporary taste by replacing the double-height apartments with the dining room and drawing room. Both rooms were later found to have dry rot in 1957 and have since been restored — the dining room in 1995 and the drawing room in 1997.

William Adam's arrangement for the grounds, apparently carried out to the south, mixed formal and informal elements including a bastioned parterre, wilderness, great avenue, cascade, and basin. From the 1750s there was a long period of improvement, principally involving the informalisation of the grounds. John Adam continued work begun by his father and was responsible for some of these changes; by 1764 the parterre and cascade had been removed. In 1791 Thomas White designed an improvement and informalisation plan for the grounds; although little of it was fully carried out, the gardens became more informal towards the beginning of the 19th century.

The Scottish Royal Coat of Arms within the pediment of the south elevation, like some of the stonework on the rustic bridges in the sunken garden, may have originated at Parliament House in Edinburgh, which was refaced by Robert Reid in 1803.