History of Penicuik House

In 1760, when both Sir John and his wife had died, Sir James Clerk, the 3rd Baronet, set about remodeling the existing family seat of Newbiggin House. Originally he intended to incorporate some parts Newbiggin in his scheme but gradually the project changed and it was decided to rebuild the house entirely. In 1761 Newbiggin was demolished and work began on the replacement building.

The design of this ambitious Palladian house was the result of a collaboration between Sir James Clerk and John Baxter Senior. The stable block was built at the same time as the house and throughout his life Sir James made improvements to the landscape.

Sir James believed that the symmetrical disposition of the interior spaces was more important than the convenience of the house. Regularity of plan and elevation was thought desirable, "I would chose from seeing the plan of a house to understand it thoroughly at one glance of my eye, and be able to go through the whole when in work, blindfolded". The result of this opinion was a plan with two stairs of equal status on either side of the hall in a position which had been common in earlier schemes by Vanburgh but had since been superseded by the use of a grand state stair and a secondary service stair. The whole plan was reflected with little variation on either side of a central axis through the hall and saloon. This consciously outmoded design attracted some criticism. Sir James' cousin disapproved of its internal symmetry and the four-square planning of the rooms and his critical opinion was was endorsed by both his cousin Colonel Clerk and Robert Adam.

Sir James justified the portico as a response to Scottish weather. In a rebuke to criticism by Robert Adam, he explained that it "Prevents rain and snow from beating into your house by the principal door". The emphasis which was placed on the piano nobile resulted in the elevational treatment of the bedroom floor as an attic storey, above which was placed a platform roof. In a letter to Colonel Robert Clerk in March 1762, Sir James gave reasons for the inclusion of a platform roof;
Above the Attic Floor a Platform Roof
May be extended like a spacious Field
From whence the many pleasant Landskips round
May be with Ease and Delight Survey'd

The vases on the entrance front were carved by George Anderson in 1764. Anderson was also responsible for the diagonally voluted Ionic columns, the pedimental coat of arms and the Venetian windows at the back and sides. Under the portico are two niches flanking the main door. There are two statues of druids, carved by Willie Jeans in 1776. These druids are the heraldic supporters of the Clerk family and appear on the coat of arms. Plasterwork to the interior of the house was being undertaken in 1765. Cases of Iron were shipped from Leghorn in 1769 when the house was being fitted out. Francis and William Brodie supplied Dutch white chimney tiles and John Tasker added enrichments to the fireplaces and friezes.

In 1765 John Baxter Junior was in Italy studying Roman architecture. There he received a request from his father to commission copies of three antique statues for the new house. The letter of reply included four pencil drawings of male nude statues - the Medici Apolle, the Borghese Faun, the Apollo Belvedere and the Campidoglio Antinous. Beneath is a note from Baxter claiming that the sculptor was "the best in Rome", which can hardly have been true, since the statues were unsigned and cost only £80.

The interior was finished in lavish style and by 1769 only the decoration remained to be completed. Sir James commissioned Alexander Runciman to decorate the ceiling of the saloon, originally requesting grotesques in the style of the Baths of Titus. He then changes his mind, renamed the room the "Hall of Ossian" (Ossian being a Gaelic poet whose works had recently been recovered by Macpherson) and asked Runciman to decorate it with Ossianic themes, though still in a classical style. Two letters from Runciman in Rome in 1779 discussing Homeric schemes for the room make it clear that his study in Italy had been financed by Sir James. Dugal MacLaurin, Runciman's partner in Edinburgh, completed the painting in 1769, except for the "Egyptian gallery, the Hall. Great Dining Room and Staircases" all of which were to be completed "at whatever time it shall be most convenient for Sir James". The Ossian ceiling was completed in 1773.

John Baxter Junior, freshly returned from Rome added more cellars to the south west, produced a scheme for enrichments to the door surrounds in the Ossian Hall and, oddly in a house that was just finished, remodeled the central windows of the rear elevation.

Sir George made additions to Penicuik House in 1857, when the end blocks designed by David Bryce were built. The estimate by Messrs Hall of Galashiels, of £7,267 2s 0d was accepted by Sir George in April 1857, and by the following year the plasterers were in the house. Bryce also made minor alterations to the interior of the original block a this time.

On the 16th June 1899 the outbreak of fire caused the destruction of the interior and completely gutted the house. During the fire a great deal of effort was channeled into the salvaging of the furnishings: "Pictures, pianos and potted palms were bundled out of the great ionic portico, down the steps and onto the circular lawn, while the fight with the fire continued hour by hour". According to the Peebleshire Advertiser of the 24th June 1899, "The conflagration differed from ordinary ones in that there was no grand culminating point marked by the falling of the main roof or the collapse of the outer walls. Rather did it resemble a hand-to-hand encounter with a determined enemy in a fortress, where it would take hours to decide the victory. The impression was heightened by the huge volume of smoke which hung over the building by the lurid lighting of some gigantic window, the crashing of timbers, the shouting of men, and ever anon a series of explosions like the sharp rattle of musketry".

Due to problems with the insurance, funds were unavailable to rebuild the main house. The adjacent stable block was adapted to create a new family home in 1900.