17 Regent Terrace, Edinburgh

17 Regent Terrace is a late Georgian townhouse built in 1825 and completed by 1830, designed by William Playfair. It forms part of a long terrace of 34 similar townhouses, originally designed with two storeys, an attic, and a basement. While many have been extended with additional floors, number 17 retains its original appearance. The terrace is punctuated by two larger, three-storey pavilions with projecting three-bay sections at each end (numbers 11-16 and 23-28), and a twelve-bay, three-storey section at the western end (numbers 1-4). The terrace steps downwards at intervals to follow the slope of the road.

The exterior is constructed of droved ashlar stone to the basement and polished ashlar to the upper floors. The rear elevation is primarily coursed squared rubble with dressed margins. The principal (east) elevation features a base course, dividing bands between the basement and ground floor, and between the ground and first floors. A continuous cast-iron trellis balcony with a Greek key border runs along the first floor. Additional features include an eaves cornice and blocking course. The doorpiece is framed by fluted attached Greek Doric columns. The windows are regularly spaced; architraved at ground and first floor level, with panelled aprons to the ground floor windows. The rear elevation has predominantly regular window openings.

The basement level has a timber panelled door with a three-light fanlight, alongside windows in the left and right bays. A set of steps with an overarching platt leads to a two-leaf timber panelled and glazed door in the right bay, also with a letterbox fanlight. Two canted dormer windows are visible on the attic floor. The rear (northwest) elevation is two bays wide with an eaves course.

The roof is an M-shape, with a central valley and a mansard profile to the front, covered in graded grey slate. Stone skews and skewputts are present. Chimneys rise from the roof, with ashlar facing to the front and a rendered finish to the rear, preceded by individual octagonal flues. A cast-iron downpipe with an ornamental hopper is also visible on the front elevation.

The front garden is enclosed by stone coping with cast-iron railings featuring dog bars, spear-head finials, and a distinctive circled border. A random rubble boundary wall, with predominantly flat coping, encloses the rear garden.