40 Royal Terrace, Edinburgh

William Playfair, designed 1820-4; No 40 built 1821-22. Part of extremely long 121-bay palace front terrace of townhouses with arched and rusticated ground floor; to centre, 3-storey section punctuated by three 3-storey and attic Corinthian colonnaded pavilions; to left and right flanking 3-storey balustraded sections leading to 3-storey sections with 3-storey and attic Ionic colonnaded pavilions; 2-storey balustraded sections to outer left and right; basements to all houses. Droved ashlar to basement; V-chamfered rustication to ground floor; polished ashlar to upper floors; predominantly coursed squared rubble with dressed margins to rear and side elevations. To principal elevation: base course; dividing band between basement and ground floor; impost course to ground floor; dividing band between ground and 1st floors; to 1st floor, narrow band course broken by window to each bay. Regular fenestration to principal elevation; predominantly regular fenestration to rear elevation; to ground floor, round-headed openings in round-headed overarches.

N (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: 2-storey, basement and attic, 3-bay elevation. To basement, timber-panelled door with segmental fanlight to centre, windows to left and right bays; all in segmentally-headed openings. To ground floor, left bay, steps and platt overarching basement recess, leading to timber-panelled door with flanking margin lights and segmental fanlight. Continuous cast and wrought iron balcony with Greek key border to 1st floor windows; band course above windows. Eaves cornice; balustraded parapet. To roof, canted dormer window.

E (SIDE) ELEVATION: band course to ground and 1st floor level; small windows with raised margins to ground and 1st floor; to right, cornice on return from front elevation; eaves cornice and blocking course.

S (REAR) ELEVATION: 2-bay elevation; band course between basement and ground floors and between ground and 1st floors; eaves cornice; blocking course. Narrow window to centre to ground floor.

GLAZING etc: predominantly 12-pane glazing; to front elevation, 17-pane glazing to ground floor and 15-pane glazing to 1st floor; 16-pane glazing to 2nd floor to rear elevation; glazing predominantly in timber sash and case windows. M-pitch roof with central valleys; graded grey slate; stone skews. To E elevation, 2 groups of 3 octagonal flues to wallhead; to front (to right), mutual ashlar ridge stack surmounted by octangular flues; to rear (to left) mutual ashlar ridge stack surmounted by octangular flues; predominantly circular cans.

RAILINGS AND BOUNDARY WALLS: to front, edging basement recess and platt, stone coping surmounted by cast-iron railings with dog bars, spear-head finials and distinctive circled border; wrought iron lamp standard to left of platt. To rear, forming boundary of gardens, random rubble walling with flat coping.

INTERIOR: to ground floor: to lobby; fluted groin-vaulted ceiling.