16 Brighton Place, Edinburgh

These are two classically-styled houses, 16 and 18 Brighton Place, Edinburgh, built around 1824 by John Baxter of Portobello. They form a mirrored pair, designed as a terrace of two storeys and three bays, with single-storey pavilions flanking each house, slightly set back. The façades are constructed from polished ashlar stone, deeply-channelled on the ground floor. Droved ashlar is used on the pavilions and basement levels, while rubble stone forms the rear and side elevations. A bull-face rendered addition (with brick at the rear) extends from the northeastern elevation of one house, and a harled addition and a bay extension to the rear of the adjacent house are present. Horizontal bands of stone delineate the basement, ground floor, and first floor, with a further cill course to the first floor; a cornice and blocking course top the main elevation, while the pavilions are finished with a band course and coping.

The principal, southeastern elevation is accessed by four steps, with original cast-iron handrails. The steps to number 16 have concrete repairs, while those to number 18 are entirely concrete. The original panelled front doors, featuring a two-leaf Edinburgh panelled door at number 18, are set within deep recesses, above which are original fanlights and windows. The fanlight at number 18 is radial in design, while number 16 has plate glass. Windows are present on both floors of the central bays, and a window and door are in each flanking pavilion. The rear, northwestern elevation has blank bays in the centre of the first floor of each house.

The windows on the principal elevation are timber sash and case with plate glass; various other windows are found at the rear, including 12-pane timber sash and case windows. The roof is grey slate, piend in style. Rendered and coped chimney stacks project from the front and rear, with a sandstone and coped wallhead stack at the rear of number 18, a brick stack protruding from the wing of number 18, and a rendered stack with a coped wallhead to the rear of number 16.

Internally, shutters remain in place, though they are not functional. Cast-iron balusters feature on the staircase. The rear of the front rooms on the ground floor of both houses have bowed walls. Number 18 lacks original fireplaces; number 16 retains a timber and white marble panelled chimney piece in the front room of the first floor, along with a border-glazed staircase window. The hall has a slate floor, and the tripartite vestibule partition and door feature engraved glass.

The front boundary is defined by droved ashlar walls with coping, now largely broken. Tall rubble garden walls, incorporating some brick, define the rear garden boundaries.