53, 55, 57 Bernard Street, Edinburgh

Dated and monogrammed, John Paterson, 1868. 3-storey 9-bay Italian palazzo-style tenement with shops at ground floor. Cream sandstone, polished ashlar ground floor (painted), stugged ashlar with polished dressings above, squared and snecked rubble to rear, coursed rubble to side. Rectangular shop-openings with roll-moulded surrounds; deep cornice above ground floor with alternating brackets and individual foliate and masque carvings; carved string course above 1st floor; corbelled cill course at 2nd floor; bracketted eaves cornice with panelled intervals between brackets; stilted segmental-arched openings at 1st and 2nd floor framed by colonettes with foliate capitals, carved and moulded arrises to arches.

NE (FRONT) ELEVATION: round-arched doorway to common stair at centre, corniced with carved consoles, panelled door and semi-circular plate glass fanlight; 2 shops with recessed doorways to left; 1 shop and pend converted into shop to right. Regular fenestration above. 6 dormers with rounded heads.

SW (REAR) ELEVATION: tall central multi-pane stair window with blue border glazing; 2 bipartite windows with timber mullions to outer left; single windows to remaining bays. 2 single dormers.

Timber windows of fixed top sashes and tall 2-pane lower sashes, 4-pane windows to rear. Slate roof with metal flashings; transverse and apex stack to NE gable.

INTERIOR: not seen 1993.