Description

J R H MacDonald (J M Contractors Ltd), 1933. 2-storey with cellar, 3-bay International Style villa with polygonal tower and flat roof with stepped parapet. Smooth rendered, whitewashed. Brick base and parapet coping. Tiny jettied course at windowheads (both floors).

N (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: bay to left with projecting polygonal stair tower with shallow-pitched polygonal roof, doorway in re-entrant angle to right (NW) and narrow light above, 2 shallow horizontal windows close to eaves; face to left (NE) with almost full-height narrow 4-part stair window. Set-back bay to right with single window and further window beyond wrapping around outer angle at ground, large window to 1st floor.

W ELEVATION: single storey flat-roofed bay with original Crittal window projecting at centre, modern glass door on return to right and windows to outer bays (that to left wrapping around corner as above); 3 asymmetrically-fenestrated bays at 1st floor.

S (GARDEN) ELEVATION: asymmetrical fenestration to vertically-emphasised elevation with garden falling steeply to S. Full-height chimney breast projecting at right and similar detail (not chimney breast) to left of centre.

E (ELEVATION): variety of elements including original flat-roofed garage (with door on right return) at right forming small courtyard, set-back bay to right with left bay adjoining garage and door on return to right.

ROOFTOP: low coped and stepped parapet walls with some stretches of metal railing. NE angle with low top stage of polygonal tower, door to W and windows to SW and S; single stack immediately in front of W window.

Horizontal multi-pane glazing pattern to metal-framed Crittal window at W; all other windows replaced. Glazed Belgian tiles to tower roof. Rendered stacks with clay cans. Cast-iron downpipes with decorative rainwater hoppers.

INTERIOR: original banded fireplaces to lounge and dining room; timber staircase of oak; electric maids box and some original radiator guards.

TERRACE WALLS, BOUNDARY WALLS AND GATEPIERS: brick-coped terrace walls. Low brick-coped harled boundary walls and polygonal brick gatepiers pyramidally-coped with glazed Belgian tiles.

Statement of Interest

Sir John MacDonald built nearby 'White Lodge' for his son (John R H) and 'Green Ridge' for his daughter (Christina). Sir John purchased the Kilmardinny Estate in the 1930s and himself lived at Kilmardinny House. The MacDonalds (father and son) promoted flat-roofed dwellings and their advantages in cartoon style advertisements. Their enthusiasm for Le Corbusier principals and continental housing as exhibited in the 1927 housing estate at Weissenhof, the 'White House Estate' in Stuttgart was however difficult to transpose to a Scottish climate. The 'Sunlight' houses in nearby Carse View Drive were all built by the MacDonalds.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17794020

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

• 
  Herefordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Gloucestershire 1: The Cotswolds: Cotswolds Pt. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990
• 
  Surrey (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The Listed Buildings and Other Principal Structures at the Royal Gunpowder Mills Waltham Abbey