Another one bites the dust

Quite recently demolished is Mayburn House in Loanhead.  The house itself was a rather respectable large, two-storey villa, with a neat full height bay window at the front and tasteful projecting eaves that were always painted bright red.  It was joined onto an L-plan house that formed a courtyard.  The L-plan house was originally known as Fountain House, but I'm not sure if the villa had a name or if they were one and the same.  That said, Fountain House took its name from the line of pre-19th century cottages, some of which remain today, and were known simply as Fountain, which is why the main road here is known as Fountain Place.

In 1905 or thereabouts two sites were officially merged and renamed Dalry House, and was set up as a "training home for girls".  A training home was a facility that provided accommodation for girls from dangerous surroundings or those who "needed training", that is, moral reform by way of work.  Dalry House was known officially as "The Edinburgh Girls' Reformatory and House of Refuge for Female Delinquents".

In 1923 the house came under the ownership of the Church of Scotland and was a facility known as a Magdalen Home, and would have included laundry as both the main occupation and a service to the locality.

In about 1957 Dalry House was renamed Mayburn House, and further accommodation was added but still run by the Church of Scotland, though as a home for the elderly.  Sadly the ownership changed in more recent times and the three conjoined houses fell into disuse.  For the last 15 years nothing was done about them, except clear the contents and board up the windows.  Midlothian Council finally stepped in and demolished the whole site.

Colin McWilliam, of architectural historians Gifford, McWilliam & Walker, didn't have much to say in 1978 about Loanhead, calling it "not a prepossessing town".  I meant to photograph Mayburn House before it went, because I thought the villa at least was worth saving.

It looks nice and sunny in my photograph, and it was, but don't be deceived: it has been mostly horrible here today with lashing rain that flooded my patio again.  I escaped during the only dry spell to do the food shopping.  I also *sigh* ordered a pile of parts to repair the leaking forks on Fidra the Pan Euro.