Kinloch House

Kinloch House is an early 18th century house which incorporates an earlier building which hints at having been fortified.

The house is aligned approximately east to west and consists of three storeys plus an attic. The ground floor has thick walls and is vaulted, with lower ceilings than the upper storeys. Generally rectangular in plan, the east wall of the house is angled out slightly from the north-east corner to the south-east.

The thick walls and vaulted basement suggest a 16th or early 17th century fortified origin however little seems to be known about the early history of Kinloch House. It used to be known as Gilmerton House and these two names might suggest that it served as a town house for the Kinlochs of Gilmerton. They moved to East Lothian in 1655 when Sir Francis Kinloch bought the East Lothian estates of Gilmerton, Athelstaneford and Markle. In 1686 he was created a baronet of Gilmerton.

Another old name for the house was apparently Dowers or Dower House, perhaps suggesting that Kinloch House was once the dower house for either another house in Haddington or a country house in the surrounding area.

There are precious few clues regarding Kinloch House on early maps since the earliest to show the area in any detail, an early 17th century map by Hendrik Hondius based on Timothy Pont’s late 16th century work, depicts various unnamed towers or buildings representing Hadtyntoun.

To the rear on the north side is a projecting stair tower creating a T-plan, with a scale and platt stair leading up to the floors above. At some presumably relatively modern date the north-west façade of the house has been extended out to fill in the re-entrant angle with the stair tower.

In 1784 the architect and builder James Burn bought Kinloch House and established his yard there. By the late 19th century the house had been converted into flats. In 1962 the house was bought by the architect Bill Campbell who lived on the upper floors. He founded the architectural practice Campbell & Arnott with Ian Arnott, restoring the house and setting up their offices on the ground floor. The practice moved to Edinburgh later in the 1960s.

Kinloch House is now a private home.