Lorimer was born in
Edinburgh, the son of Hannah Stodart (1835–1916) and
James Lorimer, who was Regius Professor of Public Law at
University of Edinburgh from 1862 to 1890. In his youth, the family lived at 21 Hill Street, a
Georgian house in Edinburgh's South Side, close to where his father worked at
Old College. From 1877 to 1882, he was educated at
Edinburgh Academy, going on to study at University of Edinburgh from 1882 to 1885, however he left without completing his studies. He was part of a talented family, being the younger brother of
painter John Henry Lorimer, and father to the
sculptor Hew Lorimer. In 1878 the Lorimer family acquired the lease of
Kellie Castle in
Fife and began its restoration for use as a holiday home. Lorimer began his architectural career in 1885 working for
Sir Robert Rowand Anderson in Edinburgh, and in 1889 for
George Frederick Bodley in London. He returned to Edinburgh opening his own practice in 1891. His first major restoration commission was
Earlshall Castle in Fife for Robert MacKenzie, a friend of his parents. He was influenced by Scottish domestic architecture of the 16th and 17th centuries and the
Scottish baronial style of Kellie Castle where he had spent much of his childhood and adolescence. From his time in Bodley's office, Lorimer was influenced by the ideas of
William Morris, and went on to become a committed exponent of the Arts and Crafts approach to architecture. He assembled a collaborative group of
artists and
craftsmen who, collectively, often contributed to his various commissions and to the manufacture of furniture sent to the
Arts and Crafts exhibitions in
London. In 1896 he was elected to the
Art Workers Guild. Lorimer designed a series of cottages in the Arts and Crafts style in the
Colinton area of Edinburgh, the so-called "Colinton Cottages". Constructed using traditional methods and materials, each cottage included a garden layout and interior design, including furniture, in keeping with the Arts and Crafts concept. By 1900, eight cottages had been built and four others were under construction. Lorimer designed a private residence in
Helsinki for industrialist
Ossian Donner and his Scottish wife, Violet McHutchen. At that time, the autonomous
Grand Duchy of Finland belonged to the
Russian Empire. The house, located at Maurinkatu 6 and representing English and Scottish styles, was completed in 1901. The Donners fled the
Russian Revolution to Britain, and sold the house to
Svenska Klubben in 1932. 1911 As his reputation grew the scale of his commissions increased, including major alterations and additions to important houses in various styles, culminating in three entirely new
country houses designed in his personal interpretation of Scots baronial style; at
Rowallan Castle, Ayrshire (1903),
Ardkinglas, Argyll (1906), and
Formakin House, Renfrewshire (1912). Of these, Ardkinglas, on
Loch Fyne, was the only one built as originally designed and, Lorimer having been given carte blanche, represents his masterpiece. His important restorations at this time include
Lennoxlove House, Haddington (1912) and probably his most evocative; at
Dunderave Castle, Argyllshire (1912) on the Ardkinglas estate. He could take a house of modest character and give it a strong personality, such as Pitkerro, Forfarshire (1902) or Briglands, Kinross (from 1903), particularly where he found the raw materials sympathetic, but he could also disregard existing architectural qualities in a way that modern conservation practice would question, if he felt the result justified its replacement, such as at
Hill of Tarvit, Fife (1907) where he demolished a previous house probably by
Sir William Bruce, or at Marchmont, Berwickshire (1914) where he re-configured an altered house by
William Adam (from 1750), ignoring Adam's design. He was called in to a number of properties to carry out a range of improvements, such as minor alterations, design of interiors and furnishings, work to ancillary buildings, and garden designs and features. A good representative of this sort of work is
Hunterston Castle in Ayrshire (1912). ==Later life==