Description

Earlier 19th century rectangular-plan house with substantial Arts and Crafts wing projecting S from W gable, Sydney Mitchell and Wilson, 1891 to create L-plan. Earlier 19th century section: 2-storey and basement, 3-bay. Squared and snecked rubble to S; rendered to E and N; stone cills; hammer dressed ashlar quoins; eaves course. 1891 wing: coursed rubble, harl pointing, ashlar margins; straight moulded quoins; base course. Half-timbering; bracketed roof; decorative windows to S and E.

S (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: earlier 19th century section to right: central timber panelled door; flanking basement windows and ground floor windows. 3 1st floor windows centred above ground floor openings. Advanced 1891 wing to left: wide single bay to S gable. Ground floor tripartite square-plan window on plinth; jettied half-timbered section above; central 3-light canted timber oriel, stained glass to upper oriel window cases; 2 windows flanking oriel; overhanging half-timbered plain bargeboarded gable above. Full-height canted window to far right of re-entrant angle; ground floor window left; 2 small timber-framed 1st floor windows to left.

E ELEVATION: timber boarded door off-centre left to basement. 1st floor window off-centre right.

N (REAR) ELEVATION: earlier 19th century section to left: 2 ground floor windows to left (right window of smaller dimension). 1 1st floor window to left.1891 wing to right: plain bargeboarded gable end to N; ground floor window to left; 1st floor window above.

W ELEVATION: 2 ground floor windows to left (right window of smaller dimension). 1st floor bipartite window to left; large tripartite window to right.

8- and 12-pane timber sash and case windows; 8- and 9-pane timber casement windows; some non-traditional windows. Pitched roofs; grey slates. Coped ashlar gablehead stacks and ashlar coped skews to earlier 19th century section (that to E rendered). Coped moulded ashlar gablehead stack to N of 1891 wing, wallhead stack to W.

INTERIOR: original layout mostly intact; most original 1891 chimneypieces retained.

BOUNDARY WALL: long random rubble wall defining rear boundary of property and lining long drive leading to top of The Brae.

WELL: random rubble barrel-vaulted well with brick arched opening; cast-iron gate to front, inserted into rear boundary wall next to house.

Statement of Interest

This house is situated in a prominent elevated position above the Main Road. Stephen states that "Hill House [is] situated on land called Drummond's Garden, and built, as far as the rear portion is concerned, by Alexander Chalmers, Edinburgh, sometime prior to 1833". A large Arts and Crafts addition by Sydney Mitchell & Wilson was added to an earlier symmetrical-plan house. In particular the original entrance of the earlier house has been retained in keeping with the symmetry of the first house. The new hall has been placed at the convergence of the two building phases and is lit by a decorative canted window set in the corner. Scott Morton and Company are also known to have supplied design no 2024 for tapestry decoration to the hall (see NMRS, SMW 1890/49) no longer in situ. The early well is similar to Willie's Well (see separate listing) located nearby at shore level. A former coach house, of random rubble with a corrugated metal roof has now been converted to a storage building and is located to the W of the house at the top of the drive and is set into the rear boundary wall. A small storage shed, probably a former coal shed is also set into the rear boundary wall and is located next to the scullery directly behind the house.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17793861

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability
• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Leeds, Bradford and the North (Pevsner Architectural Guides / Buildings of England)
• 
  Surrey (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House
• 
  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Bedfordshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1968)