The Hermitage, Galahill, Jedburgh

The Hermitage is a villa built between 1884 and 1885, located on a stunning east-facing terraced site in Galahill, Jedburgh. This two-storey, three-bay building is constructed from snecked, bull-faced cream sandstone with polished ashlar dressings. It features bipartite windows in all bays, except where noted, with tabbed margins and long and short quoins, as well as overhanging timber eaves and a base course. The ashlar mullions and rounded eaves cornice add to its architectural detail.

The entrance elevation is symmetrical, with three steps leading up to a four-panelled door that has brass furniture, including an Edinburgh handle, and a narrow rectangular fanlight set within a pilastered and corniced doorpiece. A moulded bandcourse runs at the level of the cornice, and there is a single window above the door, with additional windows on each floor featuring bracketed cills.

On the south elevation, there is a two-storey, two-bay section to the right, with windows on each floor, and a single-storey, two-bay range to the left that includes a window on the right and a door on the left.

The north elevation features a two-storey, three-bay section, with the right bay being lower and slightly set back, and a modern lean-to garage beyond. The left bay has a canted window at ground level with a bipartite centre light, cornice, and blocking course. The centre bay has a modern polygonal timber-framed conservatory, added in 1991, on a rubble base with access through a glass door.

The rear elevation has a round-headed stair window at the centre, with a low two-storey piend-roofed projection to the left and a single-storey projection to the right. The windows are timber sash and case with plate glass. The piended roofs are covered with grey slates, and pyramidal glass skylights illuminate the landing. The stacks are detailed similarly, with moulded guttering at the eaves and cast-iron downpipes, some of which have dated rainwater heads.

Inside, the villa boasts a fine entrance hall featuring an etched glass screen leading to the inner hall, both with decorative tiled pavements. The staircase has barley twist turned balusters and passes through an archway, leading to a large top-lit landing. The main rooms are adorned with decorative graining and cornices.

The property is also complemented by gatepiers and boundary walls, which consist of a rubble wall with droved semi-circular coping along Galahill, sweeping in at the gatepiers located to the south of the house. The polished ashlar square stop-chamfered gatepiers have bases and flat pyramidal caps on cushions. There is a pedestrian entrance at the rear of the house, and a modern carriage entrance has been introduced to the north.