Description

Circa 1831. 2-storey, 3-bay symmetrical neo-Greek house set back from road; mirror image of No 184. Polished ashlar facade; architraved openings; advanced central bay; recessed ashlar quoins. Continuous base and string course; blocking course raised at centre. Corniced first floor windows; pedimented central window. Ionic doorcase at ground.

W (ENTRANCE) ELEVATION: stone steps to central doorcase; fluted Ionic columns to left and right; blank architrave, frieze and cornice above. Timber panelled door; original 2-pane fanlight. Pedimented single window with flanking decorative consoles to central bay at first floor; single windows to both floors in bays to outer left and right. Decorative cast-iron window guards to 1st floor windows.

E (REAR) ELEVATION: coursed rubble sandstone; irregularly disposed single openings. Stone stair from ground floor to basement.

4-pane timber sash and case windows in all windows to W elevation at first floor; 2-pane timber sash and case windows to ground. Piended grey slate roof; ashlar wallhead stack to N and ridge stack to S set between original block and addition; linked octagonal flues. Single-storey sandstone arches flank main block at ground (right pend blocked).

INTERIOR: grand stair to rear; servants? stair to basement quarters (now a private flat). Buffet recess to ground floor dining room; dummy door to right; door to kitchen to left. Original plaster work in many rooms; petal-shaped ceiling roses to landing and drawing room; timber dado panels intact.

COACH HOUSE: random rubble single storey with hay loft and single storey wing to right set back from main house; mirrors that in adjacent No 184. Raised and polished margins; droved long and short quoins; architraved square opening to hay loft. 2-leaf timber boarded gate; original iron hinges. Grey slate roof to main block; piended grey slate roof to side wing. Shallow stone "Horse bath" to E corner of stable court.

BOUNDARY WALL AND GATEPIERS: coped rubble wall to Newhaven Road. Ashlar gatepiers flank driveway; projecting base course and cornice; recessed panels; square caps; ironwork in place. Coped random rubble wall to N and S boundaries. Wall to E marks division between stable court and garden; sculpted figurative panel inset. Extensive garden to rear contains rectangular Victorian greenhouse to far NW abutting wall to Dudley Crescent.

Statement of Interest

No 186 and the adjacent No 184 were built and lived in by the Schultz brothers (both whaling captains) whose wish it was that the two buildings be exactly the same. Once part of the Williamfield Estate (subsequently developed as the Dudley Estate). The 1855 Ordnance Survey map refers to both houses as forming "Ramsay Place".

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17796313

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

• 
  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  County Durham (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England) by Elizabeth Williamson Nikolaus Pevsner(1983-03-11)
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  Building Small Projects (New Best of Fine Woodworking)