Whitehill House, Rosewell

Whitehill House is a substantial English-Jacobean revival country house designed by William Burn and built between 1839 and 1844 by the builder Lewis Alexander Wallace. It was designed for Major R G Wardlaw-Ramsay and was described in the New Statistical Account of Scotland as a building "of noble dimensions and strikingly elegant appearance." The Whitehill family line was founded in the 16th century by Robert Ramsay of Swynisdene, son of Sir Alexander Ramsay of Dalhousie, long before the present house replaced an earlier structure, of which no records appear to survive. The stone, once white, has now weathered grey. In 1935, John Devlin added a red brick chapel and refectory adjoining to the south-east. The house served as a Red Cross hospital in 1914, and from 1924 was occupied by the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul as a hospital until the summer of 1998, when it was sold.

The main block is square in plan, two storeys over basement and attic, with eight bays. A single-storey, attic-level stable and office court of seven bays is connected to the south-west by a four-bay link. The building is faced in coursed, lightly stugged sandstone ashlar with polished architraved mullioned windows. External detailing includes a base course, a moulded dividing band course, a moulded eaves cornice, a balustraded parapet, buckle quoins, and crowstepped gables.

MAIN BLOCK

North-west (entrance) elevation: Near-symmetrical. A single-storey, single-bay basket-arched porte-cochere projects forward at the fourth bay from the right, with each arch flanked by Tuscan columns, keystones to the arches, a simple frieze, moulded cornice, and pierced strapwork parapet; the left and right returns of the porte-cochere have small-pane windows with fishscale glazing. The architraved doorway is reached by a flight of steps and has a two-leaf panelled timber outer door and a glazed panelled inner door. At first-floor centre there is a canted window with a strapwork parapet enclosing a statue of the Virgin Mary, above which rises a curvilinear gable with a carved shell surmounted by a cross at the apex, flanked by two carved unicorns supporting Ramsay family crests. The ground floor and basement of the left and right returns are fenestrated regularly. Two flanking bays to the left and right are recessed, each with a two-light window flanked by single-light windows at ground and first floors, and regular fenestration to the basement. The outermost right bay is advanced with three-light windows to the basement, ground floor, first floor, and a recessed attic floor flanked by square angle turrets. The penultimate bay to the left contains a three-storey tower with two-light windows to the basement and ground floors; a bowed five-light oriel with a panelled lintel and pierced strapwork parapet at first floor; and three-light windows to each elevation of the second-floor tower. The remaining bay to the left has a four-light window to the basement, four-light windows with panelled lintels to the ground and first floors, and a three-light window to a gabled attic floor, flanked on the left by a square angle turret.

South-east elevation: Near-symmetrical, seven bays. An eight-light shaped bow window rises through the basement, ground, and first floors with panelled lintels, flanked to the left and right by three-light windows at ground floor. The basement floor of the flanking bays has harled additions. There is a door and metal fire escape stair to the first and attic floors of the flanking bay to the left, and a three-light window to the first floor of the flanking bay to the right. Three-storey ogee-roofed towers occupy the penultimate bays to the left and right; the tower to the left has single-light windows with strapwork pediments to the ground and first floors, and the tower to the right has a single-light window with a strapwork pediment to the first floor and a doorway to the ground floor, now obscured by 20th-century additions. Both towers have three-light windows to each elevation of their second floors. The outer left and right bays are gabled with canted windows rising through the basement, ground, and first floors; the square angle turrets have lost their ogee caps. A red brick addition adjoins to the outer left.

North-east elevation: Near-symmetrical, seven bays. An eleven-light shaped bow window with a strapwork parapet occupies the centre of the ground floor. The five central bays are regularly fenestrated at first floor, except for the bay to the right which has a door and metal fire escape to the ground and attic floors. A two-leaf glazed timber doorway is set in the basement floor of the penultimate bay to the right. The gabled bays to the outer left and right each have a five-light canted window with strapwork parapets rising through the ground and first floors. Gabled dormers appear at each of the five central bays at attic floor, and three-light windows appear to the flanking bays at outer left and right. The square angle turrets have lost their ogee caps.

South-west elevation: Predominantly obscured by the link, stables, and later additions and alterations.

LINK

The four-bay link connecting the main block to the stable court is symmetrical, with a two-pane sash and case window to each bay breaking the eaves with a strapwork pediment.

STABLES AND OFFICE COURT

The stable and office court is seven bays, courtyard plan, single storey with basement and attic to the north, and two storeys and attic to the south, with later additions and alterations.

North-west elevation of stables: The gabled centre bay has an infilled round arch containing two windows, with a stepped hood mould surmounted by the Ramsay family crest of a unicorn's head and mullet, flanked by two urns. The three bays to the left are regularly fenestrated, with dormers to the attic floor of the third bay from the left and the penultimate bay from the left, both with strapwork gables. The third bay from the right has a window to the ground floor; the penultimate bay to the right has a glazed panelled timber door; and the outermost right bay has a window, both with gabled dormers above at attic floor.

North-east elevation of stables: Asymmetrical, four bays. The gabled bay to the right has a three-light window to the centre with a hoodmould and Ramsay family crest set in the gablehead, flanked by two square angle turrets. The remaining three bays have regular fenestration breaking the eaves with strapwork pediments. The link adjoins to the outer left.

South-west elevation of stables: Asymmetrical, seven bays. Regular fenestration to the ground floor; six irregularly placed boarded timber doors to the basement floor; gabled dormers at the two outermost right bays at attic floor; and a gabled bay to the outer left.

South-east elevation of stables: Asymmetrical, two storeys and attic, seven bays. The ground floor of the second, third, and fourth bays from the left has two-leaf boarded timber doors; the outermost left bay has infilled openings; the penultimate bay to the right has a flat timber door flanked by two glazed panels. Fenestration to the first floor is irregular, and there are four dormer windows to the attic floor. The gabled bay to the outer left has red brick additions. The gabled bay to the outer right is advanced with an off-centre boarded timber door with a two-pane fanlight to the ground floor, and a three-light window with hoodmould and Ramsay family crest set in the gablehead to the first floor, flanked by square angle turrets. Red brick additions adjoin to the outer left. The left return has five bays, with a basket-arched opening to the outer left leading to the servants' court; a lean-to addition to the central bays at ground floor; a panelled timber door to the outermost left bay reached by downward steps; three windows above the archway; and gabled dormers to the remaining bays of the first floor.

Stable court: The south-east elevation of the court has a gabled infilled round arch, flanked to the right by a 20th-century lean-to addition and to the left by a single window; two gabled dormers appear at attic floor. The south-west elevation has regular fenestration to all bays except for a door in the penultimate bay to the left, and two gabled dormers to the attic floor. The north-west elevation has the basket arches of former coach houses obscured by a glazed 20th-century lean-to addition, with two gabled dormers to the centre of the attic floor. The north-east elevation has a flat-roofed 20th-century addition to the ground floor and two gabled dormers to the attic floor.

Servants' court: Situated to the south-east of the stable court, the servants' court is square in plan with additions and alterations.

North-west elevation of servants' court: Asymmetrical, four bays. Regular fenestration to the ground and first floors of the three bays to the right; windows to the ground and first floors of a bowed angle bay to the left.

North-east elevation of servants' court: Asymmetrical, four bays. Regular fenestration to the ground floor; windows to the outer right, penultimate left, and outer left bays of the first floor; a two-light window set in the gablehead of the attic storey to the outer left; window to the right return.

South-east elevation of servants' court: Asymmetrical, three bays. A basket-arched opening with a boarded timber door to the centre bay of the ground floor; a door to the bay to the left flanked to the right by a six-pane window; a single-storey angle bowed window to the bay to the right. Three windows to the centre of the first floor; a replacement tripartite window to the bay to the left.

South-west elevation of servants' court: Asymmetrical, three bays. A panelled timber door flanked by two vertical four-pane windows to the centre of the ground floor; a basket-arched opening with panelled timber doors; and an angle bowed window to the bay to the left. The tall bay to the right has regular fenestration to the first and second floors, a window set in the gable of the attic storey with a bell below, and four tripartite windows to the 20th-century first floor of the two bays to the left.

BRICK ADDITIONS

The 1935 red brick additions by John Devlin adjoin the house to the south-east and include an apsidal-ended chapel with round-arched stained glass windows. The remainder has regular fenestration, with a glazed flat-roofed addition to the south-west.

ROOFS AND EXTERNAL MATERIALS

Roofs are covered in graded grey slate with lead ridges. Ridge and wallhead stacks are barley-sugar clustered and corniced. Rainwater goods are cast iron. The sash and case windows throughout have a variety of glazing patterns.

INTERIOR

The large Jacobean hall features an elaborate stone chimneypiece and overmantle, a U-plan timber stair with barley-sugar balusters, a large stained glass window, and a coved coffered ceiling with carved plaster masks to the angles. The principal rooms to the north-east of the ground floor and the former bedrooms to the south-east of the ground floor have had their ceilings replaced with suspended ceilings; fireplaces and one deep frieze survive. Double panelled timber doors with surrounds remain throughout the ground floor. Rooms to the upper storeys are simply finished.

The 1935 chapel is rectangular in plan with a gallery to the rear. It has a segmentally arched ceiling with simple timber pews and timber panelling rising to the base of the windows. A round arch leads through to an octagonal-ended chancel.

The garden, now much altered, was designed by Alexander Roos.