Playfair, James

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Playfair, James (1755–94). Scots architect, noted as the author of A Method of Constructing Vapour Baths (1783). The latest Neo-Classicism was evident in the powerful Graham mausoleum at Methven, Perthshire (1793), a Greek temple-front engaged to rusticated masonry. At Cairness House, Aberdeenshire (1791–7), his interesting design included a hemicycle of offices, primitive Doric columns, and an extraordinary Egyptian Revival Billiard Room. He also designed Farnell Church, Angus (1789–1806), in a precocious Gothic style.

Bibliography

Colvin (1995);
J. Curl (2005);
Curl (1994)

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