Vallance Cottage, Main Street, Carlops

This is a late 18th-century house with additions from the mid-19th century, originally expanded to form a Temperance Hotel. It forms an L-shaped, two-story, three-bay dwelling situated at the north end of Carlops village. The construction is rendered rubble with ashlar margins and a block string course. A timber-framed, pitched-roof porch is centrally positioned, and a piend-roofed outshot extends to the rear, accompanied by single-story lean-to additions to the east and at the re-entrant angle. A later single-story brick garage is added to the south gable.

The ground floor windows are timber sash and case with 12 panes each, while the first-floor windows are timber sash and case with 4 panes each. The roof is covered in grey slate, and end stacks feature tall clay cans. Cast iron rainwater goods are present.

Vallance Cottage was raised a single story to become a Temperance Hotel around 1850, and has since undergone little alteration. Its traditional form, with broadly spaced first-floor windows close to the eaves, contributes to the historic character of the village’s north end. Historic photographs depict cast iron signage advertising the hotel, hung above the timber porch.

The village was founded in 1784 by Robert Brown, the laird of Newhall, who planned linear rows of cottages along the main Edinburgh to Biggar road. As the textile industry declined in the late 19th century, the village became a health resort for visitors from Edinburgh and now serves as a center for day visitors and walkers exploring Pentland Hill. The village retains its traditional character, largely due to its linear layout and surrounding landscape.