Balmadies, 65 Spylaw Bank Road, Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Edinburgh

Description

Sir Matthew M Ochterlony, 1914; additions, Hippolyte J Blanc, 1924; Sir M M Ochterlony, 1925-6; 1934. 2-storey and attic, butterfly plan house with Scots Renaissance detailing. Round entrance turret with later (1925-6) finialled dormers and conical roof at salient angle to N; 1925/6 addition to right (NW) with asymmetric sloping gable, decorative window surrounds, and single-storey section with balustraded roof in re-entrant angle; service wing to E; S elevation curved around central conservatory. Pink-painted harl; raised sandstone ashlar window margins. Eaves course.

N, NE AND NW (FRONT) ELEVATIONS: entrance tower to centre: 2-leaf timber panelled door with glazed top panels in projecting sandstone architrave, lintel inscribed PAX INTRANTI SALIS EXEUNT; 3 steps to door. Finialled, pedimented dormer above door inscribed DEUS NAVEM CUBERANT. Tall window to left of door, stone tablet above with wreath encircling coat of arms and 1914 at corners; dormer above, pediment inscribed NMH; dormer to left inscribed FEM (see Notes). Ball finial to roof with ship weather vane. Wing to right of tower: paired windows at 1st floor; advanced single-storey section at ground with balustraded flat roof and later (probably 1934) timber boarded door to NW. Advanced asymmetric gable to outer right; catslide roof to left; tripartite window at ground with open segmental pediment; single window above to centre with stone apron below inscribed BLISIT BE GOD FOR AL HIS GIFTIS 1925. 2-bay section to left of tower; service wing facing NE to left; circa 1934 single-storey section to outer left, joined to garage by archway; left return (through arch) with timber boarded back door in roll-moulded ashlar architrave dated 1934.

E (SIDE) ELEVATION: fairly regular fenestration to 2 bay section; flat-roofed single-storey wing advanced to NE corner.

S (GARDEN) ELEVATION: 3 sections at angles to form wide U. 2 bays to centre with central glazed door and flanking windows at ground, 2 windows above. Single-bay gabled section to right. 2-bay section to left with flat-roofed dormers to attic (1st floor and attic of outer left bay added 1924). Bowed conservatory at ground to centre (see Notes).

W (SIDE) ELEVATION: gable to right (1st floor rebuilt 1924) with wallhead stack; 2 windows at ground, window to right at 1st floor. 1925 2-bay section to left with tall window at ground to right and 2 pedimented dormers above with sun and moon finials.

Predominantly 9-pane glazing in timber sash and case windows. Corniced stacks with short yellow clay cans. Graded green/grey slate with grey ridge tiles. Cast-iron rainwater goods.

INTERIOR: red sandstone chimneypiece in hall; lintel inscribed O YE FIRE AND HEAT PRAISE THE LORD; Holyrood stag in shield to centre. Staircase rebuilt after fire in mid 20th century. Octagonal panelled room (former dining room); cupboards in panelling; timber chimneypiece with later marble inset and grate. Former library in 1925 wing; timber panelling to dado; carved timber chimneypiece with green glazed brick inset and grate with decorative brass edging. Very elaborate vine-motif plasterwork to centre of ceiling. Former butler's pantry; fitted china cupboard with glazed doors to upper shelves, cupboards and drawers below. Fireplaces to some bedrooms. Small service lift to upstairs corridor. Timber panelled doors throughout.

BOUNDARY WALL, GATEPIERS, GREENHOUSE AND GARAGE: random rubble boundary wall; cylindrical gatepiers with BALMADIES inscribed in cement; very high coped boundary wall to Lanark road. 1924 Motor House adjacent to house, harled with polished sandstone ashlar dressings. Early 20th greenhouse with harled base; harled boiler room or potting shed behind with slate roof.

Statement of Interest

This attractive and quirky house displays an interesting combination of comfortable Arts and Crafts with features taken from 17th century Scottish houses. The house is cleverly planned and sited so that the principal rooms face south over the largest part of the garden, while the bathrooms, pantry and hall (which do not require much sun) face North, and the other service rooms face East, so that they do not overlook the private part of the garden. The picturesque character of the house is by no means diminished by the later additions, which were mostly done by Ochterlony.

The house was built for Ochterlony's parents, Sir David and Lady Ochterlony, and was called after their country house, which is near Forfar. They sold this house in about 1924 to Norman Stanley Harrison Esq, who had the West gable slightly raised by H J Blanc. By 1925 it was in the possession of Norman Mitchell Hunter, who commissioned the other alterations, which were done by Ochterlony, and whose initials appear on the central dormer of the N turret. Although the house was not originally designed with a conservatory or verandah at the garden elevation, a verandah was had been installed by the time that the 1924 plans for alterations were drawn up. Ochterlony was only 24 when he designed this house, and it was probably one of the first independent commissions that he executed. He served an apprenticeship under John Kinross, and then worked as an assistant to Alexander Lorne Campbell until 1916. In Colinton Ochterlony also built the church hall of St Cuthberts in Westgarth Avenue, and numbers 3 and 7 West Carnethy Avenue.

External Links

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