A 16th-century Scottish house once visited by Mary Queen of Scots
Like so many ports, Leith has enjoyed high days, heydays and some spells in the doldrums. The same could be said about Lamb's House, which, when it was built in 1610, was one of the finest merchant's houses in Scotland. It was built by a Hanseatic merchant called Andrew Lamb and has enjoyed similar fortunes to those of its setting. In the seventeenth and the eighteenth centuries, it was the grandest house in the Edinburgh port of Leith. But by 1930, it was semi-ruinous and, by the Seventies, had become an old people's day centre leased from an overburdened National Trust for Scotland. Three decades on, the house was in desperate need of attention. Thankfully for its ghosts, things came full circle when, in 2010, following a narrow escape from a property developer, it was bought by the conservation architects Kristin Hannesdottir and Nick Groves-Raines.
Nick came to Scotland from County Down to read architecture in the Sixties - in order to study at a RIBA-registered college, he had to cross the water. 'It was either Liverpool or the College of Art in Edinburgh,' he explains. 'I had a great-aunt in Edinburgh, so there it was.' At that time in Scotland, the demolition of great houses was commonplace. Factors that decided their demise were varied - spiralling maintenance costs, the aftermath of the war, punishing death duties - but the outcome was the same and, if you ask Nick why he became a conservation architect in particular, his answer is unswerving: 'I couldn't bear seeing things being razed to the ground. And I still can't.'
Meanwhile, in 1968, Kristin had left her native Iceland to study the same subject at the University of Edinburgh. 'A few years later, I was in the Weavers' Workshop, a café in the High Street next to John Knox House, and I met Nick.' The two joined forces almost at once, first romantically and then professionally. They have since been instrumental in reinvigorating much of Scotland's architectural heritage. These include: Edinample Castle, Peffermill House and Liberton House for their own use; Fenton Tower and Forter Castle; and great Adam houses including Yester House and Arniston House.
When Nick and Kristin took it on, Lamb's House was a shadow of its seventeenth-century self, an uneasy whole thanks to its many guises over the years. A lift shaft was stuck onto the back; a public hall extension built in 1960 jutted out of the front; doorways had been raised and the fabric on all five floors was brittle. The Groves-Raines team - which includes Gunnar, their son, Andrew, their son-in-law, and a staff of 22 - set to work. Siberian larch was used for the roof timbers, handmade Hungarian glass for the windows and antique Swedish pantiles for the roof. All were chosen for being as similar to the original materials as possible. The slop sinks on each landing were unblocked, doors were lowered, fireplaces reopened. The trademark half-shuttered windows - echoed in Culross Palace in Fife - were reinstated.
Given the size of the house and the expense of its rejuvenation, Nick and Kristin's first move was to create space for the architectural practice, which they did by building a new extension to the west. The Icelandic Consulate - Kristin is honorary consul - took up residence on the ground floor. With the exception of a small upstairs flat, the family inhabits the rest of the building, with their living space on the first floor and bedrooms on the upper floors. A perfect neo-Georgian annex complete with ogee roof was finished in 2015 and is used as a holiday let. To add modern to old in the world of conservation may seem controversial, but Nick makes no apology: 'If the extension sits comfortably with the original building, where is the issue?'
This approach - to incorporate the contemporary among the venerable - is apparent throughout Lamb's House. A Florentine chest of drawers here, a Georgian mirror there, a bold oil painting of a silver bowl on an unframed canvas - the latter done by Kristin herself. Pieces of pewter lie on the kitchen table, a former laundry table retrieved from Holyrood. 'We have tried to keep the interiors as uncluttered as possible, a problem given the number of paintings we own,' says Kristin. 'We aim to have only things that are either useful or beautiful - preferably both.'
Some 400 years after Lamb's House was built, Nick says proudly, 'The building has rediscovered its status as one of the finest in Scotland'.
Davide Lovatti1/16The layout of the living room has been planned to take advantage of its original features, with chairs and sofas arranged around the opened-up fireplace and facing the half-shuttered windows.
Davide Lovatti2/16A white draped cloth lamp matches the white table cloth on the oak dining table.
Davide Lovatti3/16An eighteenth-century Florentine chest with pietra dura panels, which Nick inherited from his great aunt.
Davide Lovatti4/16The original staircase has been whitewashed and maintains original features such as the small alcove.
Davide Lovatti5/16Kristin's studio has a barrel-vaulted ceiling in Siberian larch.
Davide Lovatti6/16The pavilion's hallway is painted in Farrow & Ball's archive colour 'Terre d'Egypte'.
Davide Lovatti8/16A four-poster bed in a simple white room offers a subtle rustic feel.
Davide Lovatti12/16A round mirror hangs above the drawing room fireplace.
Davide Lovatti13/16A blue bedroom in the new pavilion. The bed has a fabric canopy.
Davide Lovatti14/16A turquoise panelled bathroom features a free-standing clawfoot bath tub painted in grey.
Davide Lovatti15/16A wooden balcony overlooks the garden.
Davide Lovatti16/16A door connects the garden and staircase, which has a rope rail.
