23 North High Street, Portsoy

Circa 1720-30. 2-storey and dormerless attic, regularly fronted 6-bay house with curvilinear gable. Harled, with crushed red Portsoy 'marble' as aggregate; contrasting painted ashlar margins, lightly slurried return rubble gable, harled rear also with contrasting painted margins. 2 slightly advanced gabled centre bays with round-headed pend arch with flanking window and round-headed keystoned attic window; curvilinear coped gablehead with apex stack. Advanced bay flanked with narrow doorways in bays 2 and 5 (transom and fanlight to 2nd

bay); enlarged bipartite window in bay 6 (extreme right). Regular lst floor fenestration with 12-pane glazing; varied multi-pane glazing in ground floor windows; 15-pane glazing in narrow rear windows; all timber and sash case. Harled coped end stacks; flat skews; slate roof with pottery ridge.

INTERIOR: deep moulded cornice to one ground floor room. Narrow curved staircase with turned balusters. 1st floor parlour with deep, heavy moulded plaster ceiling cornice; raised and fielded panelling throughout, now stained. Moulded ashlar chimneypiece with triangular base stops with later stained and varnished surface. Late 19th century cast-iron grate.

25 HIGH STREET: early 18th century. 2-storey and dormerless attic house with gable to North High Street, forming N wing to 23-27 North High Street and creating L-plan range. Modern harl. Doorway in re-entrant angle (probably former centre door of 5-bay house) flanked at left by 2 small windows; also 3 small 1st floor windows; paired ground and small 1st floor windows in E (street) gable with chamfered reveals. Plate glass glazing. Steeply pitched crowstepped gables; renewed coped end stacks; Welsh slate roof; pottery ridge.

REAR GARDEN WALLS: large garden plot at rear of Nos 23, 25, 27 North High Street enclosed by coped rubble walls, at W abutting Barbank Street. Charterboles in S facing aspect.