Gilston Lodge, 53 Eskbank Road, Dalkeith

Gilston Lodge is a 2-storey, asymmetrical gabled villa dated 1861. It is constructed of squared and snecked rubble with ashlar dressings, featuring a base course and chamfered margins and cills.

The west elevation, facing Eskbank Road, is four bays wide. A gabled bay is advanced to the far left. A tall, two-stage circular entrance tower is positioned in the re-entrant angle to the left of the centre, rising above the eaves. This tower features a stepped hoodmould above the boarded door, which has decorative iron brackets. An original light fitting and bell pull are located to the right of the doorway. A window is present on the south side of the tower at ground level, and on both the west and south sides at the first floor. A stepped corbel course is visible above the first-floor windows, and the tower is crowned with a conical roof featuring swept eaves, fishscale bands, and a weathervane. A canted window with a cornice and blocking course is situated at ground level in the bay to the far left, accompanied by a window at the first floor. Tall windows are also found at ground level in the bays to the right.

The south elevation has three bays, with a gabled bay advanced to the right. A full-height canted window is set off between the ground and first floors. A bipartite window is located on the south side at ground level. A coped eaves course is present, and the roof is a slate half-piend. To the left, a gabled bay features a tripartite window in its advanced panel at ground level, with a coped half-piend roof. A first-floor window is also present on this bay. A truncated turret is situated between the left and centre bays. A modern conservatory extends across the left and centre bays.

The east elevation is three bays wide, with a gabled bay centrally located. An oriel window at the first floor features an eaves cornice and slate half-piend roof. A window is positioned to the right at ground level, and a shield is inscribed with the initials “JD 1861 and 1867” to the left. A gabled bay is advanced to the right, with windows at both ground and first floors; an arrowslit window is between the floors. A tripartite window with a cornice and blocking course is in the advanced panel at ground level in the bay to the left.

The north elevation has two bays to the right, with a range of outbuildings adjoined to the left. A gabled bay is advanced to the left, with a window at ground level. The bay to the right is blank. A turret in the re-entrant angle incorporates an arrowslit window to the northwest, alongside an eaves cornice, conical roof with swept eaves, and a fishscale band.

The windows are predominantly sash and case with astragalled and plate glass glazing patterns. A variety of stone finials adorn the gableheads, complemented by coped skews. A dormer projection is located behind the tower on the west roof pitch. Gablehead stacks are present, with a jettied, slightly mannered pendant towards the east, a corbelled set-off gablehead stack to the north, and several ridge stacks. The roof is covered with grey slates, and some original rainwater cans remain. Original rainwater goods are also present, with a gutterhead to the west dated "1861".

A range of stone and brick service wings and outbuildings, of various dates and incorporating two courts, adjoins the north elevation to the left. A bowed bay with a ground-floor window is found in the kitchen court to the east. A recessed wing extends to the left of the west elevation—featuring a gabled bay to the left, a brick projection with a two-light window and slate half-piend roof at ground level, and a window at the first floor; a door is to the right. Two corniced and ball-finialled piers are located to the left, leading to the entrance of a coach-house with a shouldered hayloft opening. Entrance to the yard is located below the corbelled first floor of the wing.

The property is enclosed by a rubble boundary wall. Three chamfered gatepiers, corniced and pyramidal-capped, mark the entrance.