2 Carlton Terrace, Edinburgh

2 Carlton Terrace, Edinburgh

A grand classical terrace designed by William Playfair between 1821 and 1825, built from the late 1820s through to the mid-1830s. The building forms part of a long hairpin-curved terrace of 19 town houses. Numbers 1-4 and 14-19 are rectangular-plan houses with straight 3-bay front elevations, while numbers 5-13 are wedge-plan houses with curved 4-bay front elevations. The terrace is predominantly 2 storeys with basement and balustraded parapet; numbers 1, 14 and 17 have panelled parapets instead.

The basements are finished in droved ashlar, with polished ashlar to the upper floors. Side and rear elevations are predominantly coursed squared rubble with droved margins. A base course runs to the basements, with dividing bands between basement and ground floors, and between ground and first floors. Modillioned eaves cornices appear on front elevations, with eaves bands to rear elevations. Raised door surrounds feature consoled cornices. Fenestration is regular throughout: architraved and corniced windows with panelled aprons at ground floor level, and architraved windows with cast-iron balconettes to the first floor.

The south-east principal elevation presents a 9-bay composition (3 bays to each original house), with number 4 slightly advanced. Number 2 has 2 storeys, basement and dormer attic; numbers 3 and 4 have 2 storeys, basement and additional attic storeys. At basement level, windows appear in the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 6th, 7th and 9th bays from the left. An original timber door with 4-light fanlight occupies the 8th bay, while original doorways in the 2nd and 5th bays have been altered to form windows. At ground floor level, the 3rd, 6th and 9th bays from the left have steps and platts overarching the basement, leading to 2-leaf timber and glazed doors with rectangular fanlights. Above the eaves cornice, number 2 has a balustraded parapet with 2 canted, piend-roofed dormer windows to the roof. Numbers 3 and 4 have 3-bay attic storeys (later additions); number 3 features a cill band and band above windows, while number 4 has a cill band, panelled aprons and lintel band. Both have eaves cornices.

The north-west rear elevation is 6-bayed, with a full-height, square-plan pyramidal-roofed snecked rubble extension to the outer left and a small single-storey mono-pitch roofed extension to the ground floor at the centre. Bipartite windows appear in the 4th and 6th bays from the left.

Most windows are fitted with plate glass in timber sash and case frames, though some retain 12-pane glazing in timber sash and case windows to the rear elevation and basement to the front elevation. Pitched roofs with central valley are predominantly covered in graded grey slate with stone skews and skewputts. Ridge stacks are predominantly rendered mutual stacks to the rear; at the front, a mutual ashlar ridge stack rises between numbers 1 and 2, and a mutual ashlar ridge stack with canted front between numbers 2 and 3. All stacks are corniced with circular cans. Some cast-iron rainwater goods remain in place.

To the front, stone coping surmounts the basement recesses and platts, topped by cast-iron railings with dog bars, spear-head finials and distinctive circled border. A wrought iron lamp standard stands to the left of the platt to number 3. To the rear, random rubble boundary walls enclose the garden, with predominantly flat coping.

The ground floor interior has been largely altered, with many original features including staircases and lobbies of numbers 2 and 3 removed. The entrance lobby to number 4 retains a screen of 2 Greek Doric columns in antae at its far end, a compartmented ceiling and good plasterwork. The former dining room to number 4 (now opened through to the rear) features excellent plasterwork and a black slate classical chimneypiece. The former dining room to number 2 retains good plasterwork and a grey marble classical chimneypiece. At first floor level, the majority of original rooms have been subdivided, though some good plasterwork remains. The stair and stair hall of number 4 contain a rectangular pitched cupola in a compartmented ceiling (partly divided off), stone stairs with cast-iron balusters, and a wrought iron lamp bracket to the first floor landing. The second floor features a shallow relief frieze to the stair walls and side of the landing.