The Thorn & Gateway, Thorn Street, Earlston

The Thorn & Gateway is a circa 1830 villa built into a sloping site, with an adjoining terrace to the north. The south and west elevations are the principal facades. The villa is constructed of soft cream, stugged coursed sandstone, with polished ashlar dressings to the south and west sides; the east and north sides are rendered. Long and short quoins, a base course, dividing and eaves band courses, a deep cornice, a blocking course, quoin strips, and architraved windows are notable features.

The south (High Street) elevation appears as a single-storey structure with a basement, and comprises three bays. It features cast-iron balusters to steps leading to a central entrance with a pilastered doorpiece (with rendered repairs), a deep-set panelled door, and an umbrella fanlight. Tripartite windows are positioned in the flanking bays, and single windows are present in the basement. The west (Thorn Street) elevation is two-storeys high, with three bays. A central architraved and corniced doorpiece accommodates a boarded door and letterbox fanlight, accompanied by a single window above at the first floor. Single windows are found in the outer bays to the left and right of the entrance. The east elevation has a single window on each floor, while the north (rear) elevation displays droved red sandstone dressings around the windows at ground and first floor levels. A secondary entrance and single window are set within a depressed arch, marking the return to the adjoining terrace.

The villa has 12-pane sash and case windows and a grey-purple slate piended roof, with panelled and corniced stacks, tall moulded octagonal cans, and some original rainwater goods. Internally, a glazed tripartite two-leaf vestíbule door is featured within a depressed arch containing an umbrella fanlight. Other interior details include moulded door and window frames, panelled doors and shutters, decorative plasterwork, cast-iron balusters and a timber handrail to the central stairwell, marble chimneypieces with a cast-iron grate, and a depressed-arch passage running west to east beneath the first floor of the adjoining property to the north.

The property includes carriage and pedestrian gateways, a boundary wall, a washhouse and stable block. The segmental arched carriage gateway is situated within high coped rubble boundary walls; a corniced red ashlar pedestrian gateway is on the southwest side. Spearheaded iron gates and railings are set above the boundary wall to the southwest, alongside a white marble drinking fountain within the wall, inscribed "to the memory of John Young, Doctor in Earlston 1884-1934." The washhouse and stable block, which range along the north boundary wall, are single-storey with a loft, timber doors and a slated piended roof; their south elevation was probably rebuilt in the early 20th century.

The house occupies what was formerly known as Thorn Park, a name deriving from an ancient thorn tree that once stood there, a location shown on Ordnance Survey maps. The land was feued to John Spence, a writer in Earlston, in 1825, who subsequently constructed the house and outbuildings. It is believed the design allowed Spence to conduct business from offices accessed from the west, while the private living quarters were accessed from the south. The house was later occupied by doctors for many years, continuing a similar arrangement.