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Summary

Description

Circa 1750 main block; re-orientated and remodelled 1795, partly to earlier plans by Robert and James Adam, 1791; further remodelled including new roof and addition of NW extension, Sir Robert Rowand Anderson, 1895. 2-storey, irregular-plan classical country house. Squared and coursed sandstone with ashlar dressings. Base, cill and dividing band courses; eaves cornice.

SE (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: 3-bay with central bow. Architraved and pedimented central doorway; 2-leaf panelled door; glazed 2-leaf vestibule doors; pair of Doric columns flanking single windows to left and right; cornice and balustrade above; single windows to 1st floor bow. Venetian windows set in recessed round-arched panels at ground floor in bays to outer left and right; single windows to 1st floor above. Former stable court recessed to outer right (see below).

NE (SIDE) ELEVATION: 2-storey, 5-bay; 3-bays to left project. Pilastered stone door surround to right, cornice and lintel, half glazed door, matching sidelights; semi-circular fanlight; windows to side and above; blocked window to 1st floor right; adjoins Adam Office wing (see below) to ground floor right.

NW (REAR) ELEVATION: L-plan incorporating rear of 1795 and 1895 extensions. Main house: 2-storey with attic, 3-bay; regular fenestration, 6 panel replacement door to bottom left, original porch pilaster to right (and on left wall next to door), adjacent window and above, paired windows to right, pedimented stone attic dormers to bays1 and 3.

1795 extension (to left): single storey, 3-bay, with modern glass and stone hexagonal extension abutting, ventilation dome to roof.

1895 extension (to right): irregular 4-bay fenestration, door to ground left, 3 wooden attic dormers, modern replacement guttering.

SW (SIDE) ELEVATION: 2-storey with attic dormers. To right, original 5-bay house; central 3-bay block, aligned scroll pedimented dormers, to centre projecting single storey bay window, three 12-pane lights, balustraded top; projecting square end bays with 12-pane sash window, 6-pane window with string course directly above, 12-pane sash above; hipped slate roof; 10 can chimney stack to angles; to left 3-bay 1894 extension, regular fenestration, hoodmoulded windows, 3 scroll pedimented dormers, to right, 4 can chimney stack; to left return, blind wall with wallhead chimney, 4 cans, piended roof; courtyard wall adjoining.

12-pane wooden sash and case windows, although some 8-pane. Piended slate roof, platformed on top. Chimney stack to middle.

INTERIOR: 3 fireplaces from Dryden House (now demolished), 1 marble and 2 Adam-style timber and composition; timber panelling in corridors, heavy mahogany door surrounds; ornate cornicing to principle rooms; decorative cornice and guilt pelmets in upper bay room; open diamond metal work balusters, mahogany hand rail, large plaster ceiling rose in main stair well.

ADAM OFFICE WING, STABLES AND COURTYARD (adjoining Laundry House): OFFICE WING: to right of main house: single storey, 5-bay; 12-pane sash and case to 1st 3-bays, 8-pane to remainder; projecting square end bay to right, pedimented 9-pane sash window with scroll supports, timber in-fill to top of sash window; part matching bay to left adjoining main house; low parapet, modern guttering and down pipes.

STABLES: Robert and James Adam, circa 1795. L-plan; single storey, coach block, circa 1870 replacement roof to range, later in-filled arches.

W RANGE: in-filled central arch with modern door, triangular pediment, to left door and 2 windows (previously doors), to right 3 windows, 2 doors; modern replacement guttering.

Rear: regular fenestration, through passage door, abutting single storey range, timber and glazed in-fill cart openings, slate piended roof; adjoining lean-to garage on wall of earlier structure, stone ball finials to either end, to right return window, corrugated modern roof.

N RANGE: central coach house, triple glazed in-filled arches, pilasters between, string course, triangular pediment, inset round clock, weathervane; to left 3-bay, central door; to right 3-bay.

Rear: central coach house, part-obscured in-filled single arch, window to each flank, string course; 2nd storey window to each side; square parapet facade, moulded inset plaque, triangular pediment; central chimney stack, 2 cans; modern boiler room block extension to arch in-fill; 3-bay to flanks.

LAUNDRY HOUSE (adjacent to W range of stables): 2-storey 2-bay. Coursed rubble, skew gabled.

E ELEVATION: central 6-panel door, plain rectangular fanlight; single window to each flank; 3-bay to first floor at eaves, inscribed stone under central bay lintel PRETIO PRUDENTIA.

N ELEVATION: adjoining stable courtyard.

W ELEVATION: 2-storey 3-bay; central glazed door, single window to flanks, projecting surrounds.

S ELEVATION: gable end, single bay, in-filled windows, carved projecting stone surrounds.

12-pane timber sash and case windows. Piended slate roof; stacks to gables with 3 cans. Replacement plastic rainwater goods.

WALL AND GATES (adjoining Laundry House and main house): broken coursed ashlar wall, round gatepiers with conical caps; decorative double wrought-iron gates; inset marble memorial plaque to exterior

Statement of Special Interest

B-Group with Former Gardener's Cottage, Gatepiers and Screen Walls. The site was known originally as the Haggs, and suffered from poor drainage. It was owned by the Moubrays (1722-1746) and the 1745 map shows the policies as one of the few planted areas in Midlothian. Archibald Trotter married Jean Moubray, and Bush House was built, on the site of the older farmhouse, although it was greatly different to what we see today. His son Robert (1749-1807) extended and improved The Bush, calling in Robert and James Adam to draw up plans. Although not followed exactly, a new dining room and drawing room, a semi-circular open porch, main staircase, a stable block and office wing were added at a cost of £3800. The original plans still exist in the Soane Museum. In 1894-5, Alexander E C Trotter commissioned Sir Robert Rowand Anderson to make the pitch of the roof steeper, enclose the porch, add a bay window to the morning room, and build bedrooms and a billiard room extension to the NW end of the house. Interior features were also improved. The family owned Dryden House, which had become uninhabitable in 1848, and from here took grand fireplaces for the principal rooms, the tiles for the hall floor and re-used stair balusters as library bookshelves. The Trotters owned the Bush until the mid-part of the 20th century, since when the policies have been used by the Edinburgh Centre of Rural Economy, and also contain many newly built structures. The Bush is now the headquarters of the Electrical Contractors Association of Scotland. The 1868 walled garden still exists to the rear, and the grounds still retain some planned landscape features, such as wooded areas and the Pine Garden (to NE of house) with its serpentine lake.

References

Bibliography

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