40, Clifton Road

No. 40 Clifton Road is a house built around 1840 by Walter Scott. It was originally part of a pair, but the other half has since been demolished. The building features an ashlar-faced exterior with a rusticated ground floor and a Welsh slate roof. It is two storeys tall and designed in a classical style, with two main rooms and a double-depth plan, accessed through a side entrance.

The street-facing side of the house has an outer left-hand block that is advanced, showcasing a twelve-pane sash window with margin lights, flanked by round-arched niches set in a segmental bay on the ground floor. Above, there is a sixteen-pane sash window with a fanlight and a recessed stone panel. This section is flanked by pilasters and topped with a cornice and blocking course.

The inner right-hand bay features a tripartite sash window on the ground floor and a twelve-pane sash window in a round-arched architrave with an entablature and a cast-iron balcony above. This section also has a cornice and blocking course.

The entrance elevation consists of three bays separated by six pilasters. The central doorway is framed with an architrave and a stressed entablature that carries a carved lion. Flanking sash windows have stressed voussoirs, and there are three upper twelve-pane sash windows, all with margin lights. The building is topped with a balustraded parapet featuring a raised central blocking.

This house is part of the original development of Clifton Park, which was designed by Scott as a villa estate.