Broughton Place

Broughton Place

An interwar country house designed by Rowand Anderson & Paul & Partners between 1935 and 1938, with Basil Spence as partner-in-charge. The building was subdivided into flats and a gallery by Law and Dunbar-Nasmith in 1975, underwent further alterations to the service wing in the 1980s, and the gallery was converted to a dwelling in 2011.

The house is a three-storey structure with attic breaking the wallhead, arranged in an L-plan with a large round tower to the north corner and an extensive single-storey Z-plan wing to the southwest, featuring dormered attic. It sits within a private estate on a hillside above a small rural village, with formal gardens and a tennis court to the southeast. The walls are harled brick cavity construction with some pink sandstone ashlar margins. Ground floor openings predominantly feature roll-moulded ashlar jambs, lintels, and chamfered cills. The building displays a variety of gabled dormers, many with carved initials to the tympanum. The dormers to the Z-plan are predominantly from the 1980s alterations. The gables are crowstepped.

The northwest entrance elevation comprises a two-bay section flanked by the large round tower to the left and a stairtower to the right. An off-centre nail-studded oak entrance door with moulded ashlar surround sits to the right, with an elaborately carved marriage plaque above it. A vertically boarded timber door with rectangular fanlight was added to the right in 1975. The fenestration is roughly regular, with a scrolled dormerhead to the left and a triangular dormerhead with finial to the right. The Z-plan single-storey wing to the right has an advanced gable with a large square window in a moulded surround at first-floor level and an elaborately carved triangular plaque above depicting a Celtic fairytale.

The southeast garden elevation features a stair tower to the right at a re-entrant angle with a timber door in a moulded ashlar surround. A two-bay projecting gable to the right has irregular fenestration including a centred ground-floor window and an enlarged opening at third-floor level with a simple iron balustrade. A two-bay section to the left has regular fenestration and a centred vertically boarded timber entrance door with the inscription "O ALL YE GREEN THINGS UPON THE EARTH, BLESS YE THE LORD" to the lintel. A four-light mullioned, transomed, and corniced window sits to the left of the entrance. A triangular dormerhead with carved thistle finial sits to the left, and a pointed arched dormerhead to the right. The Z-plan single-storey wing to the left retains its original dormer to the right of the southeast pitch.

The northeast elevation shows the large round tower to the right, a gable breaking the wallhead to the right of centre, roughly regular fenestration, and a catslide dormer to the left.

The windows are predominantly six-over-six sash and case timber construction, with some sixteen-over-sixteen panes; those on the ground floor of the drawing room feature bespoke double glazing. The pitched slate roof features slightly bellcast roofs to the towers. The ridge and end stacks are corniced with cylindrical clay cans. A cast iron bell on a bracket sits at the southwest end stack.

Interior features include a fine neo-Jacobean decorative scheme in the original public rooms, with high-quality decorative plasterwork incorporating thistle and rose motifs by L Grandison and Son of Peebles. Wrought-iron rails to the south turnpike stair, crafted by Thomas Hadden, incorporate various floral motifs with newels in the shape of birds; a non-original rail sits at the top landing. The double-height ground floor contains an entrance hall with a small round-arched fireplace with exposed stone surround and a roll-moulded ashlar surround to the opening leading to the drawing room. Chamfered ashlar jambs frame a window. Decorative wrought-iron hinges and latch adorn the main entrance door.

The large northeast drawing room has a painted panelled dado, elaborately carved radiator grills incorporating rose and thistle motifs, buffet niches, a stone fireplace set within a painted timber surround, and decorative plasterwork to the beams and cornice. An octagonal-plan library on the ground floor of the large tower features walnut panelling to the walls, elaborately carved radiator grills incorporating scholarly motifs, an elaborate fireplace surround, and a ribbed plaster ceiling. The house contains predominantly original stone and timber fireplaces with patterned glazed tiles and predominantly panelled timber doors. A timber serving hatch opens to the original dining room.

The private estate also includes associated buildings dating to circa 1935-1938. A tennis court features a two-storey circular-plan summerhouse to the northwest corner, located to the east of the house. The court is enclosed by rubble-coped random walls with concrete surfacing and a raised section at the north end. An elaborate wrought-iron gate sits at the centre of the west wall. The summerhouse has large flat-arched openings at ground and first floors, with the first-floor opening featuring a vertically boarded timber sliding door. Oval window openings light the interior. A stone forestair with cast-iron balustrade leads to a round-arched opening with vertically boarded timber door at first-floor level. The roof is slate with an ogee profile and an iron weathervane depicting a tennis player. The ground floor is finished with flagstone.

A walled garden adjoins the house and tennis court, enclosing a large garden to the south. The walls are random rubble with ashlar coped tops and ball finials. A stepped section to the south wall features a round-arched opening with quoined jambs and an elaborate wrought-iron gate from Spain. The formal knot garden below is laid with low-rise steps with cobble infill in a diamond pattern. A statue of infant Hercules holding a serpent in his right hand, mounted on a plain stone column with circular base, stands at the centre; it was relocated from the original owner's London home. A large stone urn from Ronda, Andalucia sits on the lower lawn.

Gate piers of random rubble, surmounted by carved lions in a resting position by Hew Lorimer, stand to the northwest of the house.

The stableblock, built in 1936-38, is a single-storey seven-bay structure flanked by two-storey five-bay wings, forming a symmetrical U-plan arrangement to the northwest of the mansion. The walls are harled brick cavity construction with ashlar margins to the gables. First-floor openings sit close to the eaves. Central bays feature flat-arched openings with garage doors, flanked by windows and entrances. The left wing has a gable with ground-floor and first-floor windows and an off-centre left entrance with a flat-arched garage door opening to the right. The right wing mirrors the left. Timber sash and case windows are used throughout, with ground-floor windows predominantly six-over-nine pane and first-floor windows predominantly six-over-six pane. The roof is pitched slate with straight skews and end and ridge stacks all with ashlar coping. Vertically boarded painted timber entrance doors with fanlights and painted steel up-and-over garage doors provide access. Original light fittings flank the central flat-arched opening. The interior, as seen in 2011, contains timber horse stalls to the southeast corner.