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Linlithgow, 297-299 High Street, West Port House
Lairds House (16th Century)
Site Name Linlithgow, 297-299 High Street, West Port House
Classification Lairds House (16th Century)
Alternative Name(s) Laird's House
Canmore ID 47810
Site Number NS97NE 31
NGR NS 99653 77027
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/47810
- Council West Lothian
- Parish Linlithgow
- Former Region Lothian
- Former District West Lothian
- Former County West Lothian
West Port House, 1600
L-plan, three-storey town house of James Hamilton of Silvertonhill. If the date is correct, gun-loops, etc. are anachronistic. Its geometry is diminished by being robbed of its coat of harl. Plainly elegant, like a miniature Houstoun House with swept dormers and crowsteps on a steeply sloping roof; it is enlivened by a corbelled rectangular stair rising from the first floor in the angle to the rear. Once the road in front was lowered in the 18th century, the house gained an added elevation, towering over its diminutive neighbour to the east, Beinn Castle House, 293 High Street, restored and owned by architect Thom Pollock; early 18th-century stone cottage with crowsteps and pantile roof. New traditional houses in garden to south by William A Cadell.
Taken from "West Lothian: An Illustrated Architectural Guide", by Stuart Eydmann, Richard Jaques and Charles McKean, 2008. Published by the Rutland Press http://www.rias.org.uk
NS97NE 31 99653 77027
(NS 99653 77027) West Port House is an example of a country laird's house set on the edge of country town, as distinct from a town house proper. It is a tall, typical example of the fortalice of a country estate at the end of the 16th century. A plain rubble-built house on the L-plan, now 3 storeys high, having been lowered and undergone various other alterations in the 18th century, it was built by 1600, though it is probable that the block facing the street is rather older. Traces of this earlier building may be seen on the N side, e.g. built-up windows and a circular shot-hole. Despite the later alterations, this house still retains its essential character.
RCAHMS 1929, visited 1926; N Tranter 1962
A well preserved house as described.
Visited by OS (JP) 9 July 1974.
