A low sandstone cottage with paired dormers preserves the domestic scale of Balerno before later two-storey commercial fronts became dominant.
Quick facts
- Date
- Earlier nineteenth century
- Architect / designer
- Architect and builder not recorded in the designation
- Type
- Single-storey three-bay cottage with dormers
- Designation
- Listed building, Category B (LB27145)
- OS grid reference
- NT 16350 66426
Architecture and continuing use
Large squared sandstone blocks form a three-bay street front with a central door and flanking windows. Two canted, hipped dormers sit symmetrically in the steep slate roof, retaining twelve-pane sashes. A blocked former basement opening at street level and the building’s keyed junction with its neighbour reveal adjustments to level and adjoining fabric.
Its story
The cottage was built early in the nineteenth century and is shown on the first-edition Ordnance Survey map. The designation records its physical relationship with the adjacent group at numbers 28–32, demonstrating how apparently separate properties form a connected historic frontage.
Why it is included
It safeguards a small-scale house type within the Main Street sample and helps explain changes in roofline, density and building height.
What to notice
- Paired canted dormers with twelve-pane glazing.
- The former basement opening close to street level.
- The masonry junction keyed into the neighbouring gable.
Reading the surroundings
Treat the building as private. View from the pavement without approaching windows or obstructing neighbouring entrances.
Timeline
- Earlier nineteenth century A low three-bay sandstone cottage was built on Main Street.
- Mid-nineteenth-century mapping The first-edition Ordnance Survey recorded the cottage and adjoining frontage.
- 22 January 1971 Number 34 entered the statutory list at Category B.
What we know — and what remains uncertain
The designation gives neither an exact year nor an architect. Current interior use and occupancy have not been independently verified.
Sources & further reading
- Historic Environment Scotland: 34 Main Street, Balerno, LB27145 — Current designation status, official mapped location, date, fabric and significance.
- City of Edinburgh Council: Balerno Conservation Area Character Appraisal — Local-authority analysis of Balerno’s development, townscape, materials, industry and significant buildings.
- Trove search: 34 Main Street, Balerno — National collection search for site records, surveys, photographs and archive material.
Location
OS grid reference NT 16350 66426 · Location confidence: High for the current national designation point; public text separately states access, component-identity and current-use uncertainty. · Select the marker to open its satellite view in Google Maps. On desktop, drag Pegman (the yellow figure) onto a blue road. On mobile, turn on the Street View layer and tap a blue road. Other photo markers may be user-contributed.
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