Cross House, 5 The Cross, Linlithgow

Cross House, located at 5 The Cross in Linlithgow, dates from around 1700 and was more than doubled in size by a mid-18th century addition. The building consists of two three-storey blocks that form an asymmetrical L-plan house. It is constructed of rubble that is harled and painted, featuring raised painted margins around the windows, with sandstone margins on the additions. The house has base and eaves courses, along with crowstepped gables.

The original house to the east has a south elevation with three nearly symmetrical bays. It features a tall corniced, blocked Gibbsion doorpiece on the outer left, a window in the center, and a bipartite window on the outer right. The first and second floors have regular fenestration, with the latter being slightly smaller. The east elevation is a blank gabled wall with a rendered apex stack. To the right, there are three asymmetrical bays recessed, with three windows on the ground floor (two of which are now blocked) and additional windows on the first and second floors. A gabled return with an apex stack to the right connects to lower houses along Kirkgate.

The later addition to the west has a taller piended roof that clasps the lower block above the eaves, featuring three asymmetrical bays with three windows on the ground and second floors (the first floor is blank). The west elevation includes a full-height bowed bay with three windows on each floor (with two outer windows on the ground now blocked) and a tall round-headed window in the center on the first floor. The north elevation at the rear has two bays, with a door at the first floor accessed by an iron forestair.

Most windows are 12-pane sash and case. The roof is covered with grey slate, and there are rendered stacks.

Inside, the first-floor room at the rear of the 17th century house features a geometric plasterwork ceiling. The first-floor room in the addition boasts fine rococo plasterwork, including swirling foliage, birds, and baskets of fruit, along with a consoled cornice and a foliated centerpiece. There is also a dado and a decorated wood chimneypiece.