Ednam House

About Ednam House

Set back a short distance from the street in simple gardens, this fine mansion house was built in 1761 by James Nisbet as the residence for James Dickson of Ednam. As a youth, Dickson broke a lamp on the town well; in order to escape punishment, he ran off to London and thence to the Caribbean where he made his fortune as a naval agent in Cuba. On his return, he had the house built and named it “Havannah House" as a reminder of his time in Cuba.

This is one of the finest Georgian buildings in the Borders and was at one time a temperance hotel. The hotel has a splendid view of the River Tweed from the dining room at the rear and the interior is richly decorated with fine plaster ceilings. The drawing room ceiling depicts Aurora being pursued across a cloudy sky by Apollo in his chariot. ln each of the four corners, one of the four elements is represented. Originally entered from Abbey Court, the present entrance to the hotel grounds was built in the 1930s and it was here that the town's Tron, or weigh beam, was located. Here, market traders would set their measures against the town standard in order that buyers could be certain that they were getting the correct measure of goods.