Prestonfield House Hotel, Edinburgh
Prestonfield House was built by Sir William Bruce in 1687 for Sir James Dick. It was a meeting place for many notable figures of the Scottish Enlightenment, entertained principally by Sir Alexander Dick, who inherited the house in 1746. In 1812 his son Robert Keith Dick came to the estate and commissioned James Gillepsie Graham to build two reception rooms on the site of the old kitchen yard. Although Sir Robert did not attempt to reconcile the new building with the old externally, internally the transition between the Georgian addition and the 17th century building is almost imperceptible.
Prestonfield House became a prestigious hotel in 1959. In 1992 Simpson & Brown were commissioned to design the addition of twenty-six bedrooms. It was paramount to ensure that the architectural integrity of the original building was preserved and that any strain upon the historic fabric caused by additional use was minimised. The height of the Georgian buildings meant that the new bedrooms could be accommodated within a three storey extension, the roofline of which could remain lower than that of the 19th century building. The interior was carefully designed to provide continuity between the old and new buildings. Within the upper floor of a small 1960s kitchen extension, a reception area was created with double doors opening onto a stairwell leading to the bedrooms.
