Preston House, Preston Road, Linlithgow

Preston House is a substantial Scots Baronial mansion designed by William Burn and David Bryce in 1844, situated on Preston Road in Linlithgow. The main house is a two-storey building of roughly square plan with a lower two-storey L-plan wing abutting its south-east corner. The walls are constructed of tooled, squared and coursed cream sandstone with ashlar dressings.

The principal facades display the hallmarks of the Baronial style. The base and eaves courses are corbelled at first-floor level. Windows comprise single and bipartite examples, with dormer-headed windows featuring chamfered reveals. Crowstepped gables are moulded along their outer edges, whilst corbelled squared angle turrets carry finialled fish-scale slate piended roofs. The most prominent feature is a tall corbelled circular stair turret to the left of the entrance, topped with a finialled conical roof of fish-scale slates.

The east elevation, facing the entrance, contains the principal doorcase—a fine Renaissance composition with lugged architrave, moulded keystone and frieze, and an ornately consoled cornice, serving a two-leaf panelled door. Above this is a first-floor window with a small bipartite gable-head window. To the left stands a tripartite window at ground level, with matching detailed fenestration at first floor. Two M-gabled bays are joined at eaves by a narrow balustraded parapet, with a squared angle turret to the right.

The north elevation displays three bays, with an advanced squared and corniced tripartite window to the centre, topped by a blocking course bearing an armorial crest and finialled corner pinnacles. Two finialled dormer-heads crown the composition. The flanking bays feature canted windows at ground level, corbelled to square at first floor.

The west elevation includes a large single-storey bowed conservatory at its centre, containing eight lights and a doorway with stone mullions. This is flanked by advanced tripartite corniced windows with coped blocking courses and ball finials. Above are a central dormer-head and gabled bays with corresponding fenestration.

The south elevation is asymmetrical in composition, with a taller bay to the right containing a lop-sided gable and a linked corniced and coped stack breaking through the gable line. To the right is a recessed gabled bay containing a tripartite stair window with wooden mullions.

The service wing extends as an asymmetrical L-plan block, articulated with gabled bays and dormer-headed windows. It connects to the main house and adjoins it at right angles, with a recessed courtyard to the left.

The roofing consists of grey slate with fish-scale conical and pyramidal roofs over the turrets, swept eaves, and broad corniced and coped sandstone stacks with beak skewputts. Windows are predominantly horizontal-paned sash and case type at ground level, with smaller twelve-pane sash and case windows elsewhere.

The interior features a Jacobean slim ribbed ceiling to the hall and corniced rooms throughout. Marble chimneypieces are present, and the library contains a fitted bookcase with ornately decorated tops.

A screen wall of cream ashlar divides the entrance court from the service court. This wall is constructed as an arcade on a low coped base with a gateway featuring stone strapwork decoration to its overthrow. A round-headed carriage arch to the left, partially covered by creeper, carries ball finials and is surmounted by an ashlar bird-cage bellcote.