37 Royal Terrace, Edinburgh

William Playfair designed this townhouse between 1820 and 1824, with number 37 built between 1823 and the early 1830s. It forms part of an extremely long 121-bay palace front terrace of townhouses. The terrace features an arched and rusticated ground floor, with a central 3-storey section punctuated by three 3-storey and attic Corinthian colonnaded pavilions. To the left and right are flanking 3-storey balustraded sections leading to 3-storey sections with 3-storey and attic Ionic colonnaded pavilions. At the outer left and right are 2-storey balustraded sections. All houses have basements. The basement is constructed of painted droved ashlar; the ground floor has V-chamfered rustication; upper floors are finished in polished ashlar. Rear elevations are predominantly coursed squared rubble with dressed margins.

The principal elevation features a base course, a dividing band between the basement and ground floor, an impost course to the ground floor, a dividing band between ground and first floors, and to the first floor, a narrow band course broken by a window to each bay. Fenestration is regular to the principal elevation and predominantly regular to rear elevations. The ground floor on the front elevation has round-headed openings in round-headed overarches, with panelled aprons to the first floor windows.

The north (principal) elevation presents a 3-bay, 3-storey, basement and attic elevation. The basement has windows to the left and right bays, and a 2-leaf timber-panelled door with a 3-light fanlight to the centre bay, all set in segmentally-headed openings. The ground floor to the left bay has steps and a platt overarching the basement recess, leading to a timber-panelled door with flanking margin lights and a segmental fanlight. The first floor features giant attached Ionic columns dividing the bays and supporting an entablature between the second and attic floors, with pilasters dividing bays to the attic floor. An eaves cornice and blocking course complete this elevation.

The south (rear) elevation is 3-storey, with basement and attic levels. It is 2-bay to the basement and ground floors, and 3-bay to the upper floors. A band course divides the ground and first floors; a cornice and band course divide the second and attic floors; an eaves cornice and blocking course finish the elevation. To the basement and ground floors on the right bay is a canted bay window. The left bay at ground floor has an additional mezzanine level window.

Glazing is predominantly 12-pane throughout, with plate-glass to the ground and first floors of the front elevation, and 6-pane glazing to the attic floor front and rear. All glazing is in timber sash and case windows. The roof is M-shaped with central valleys, graded grey slate, with stone skews and skewputts. To the east and west are mutual corniced ridge stacks, predominantly with circular cans.

To the front, stone coping surmounting the basement recess and platt is topped with cast-iron railings featuring dog bars, spear-head finials and a distinctive circled border. A wrought-iron lamp standard stands to the right of the platt. To the rear, a random rubble boundary wall with flat coping encloses the garden.

The interior contains significant plasterwork and period features throughout. The ground floor lobby has a geometric tiled floor, a painted classical stone chimneypiece, a groin-vaulted ceiling with excellent plasterwork, and a timber and glazed screen and door in a round-arched opening leading to the inner hall. The former dining room has a grey veined marble classical chimneypiece with a bronze hood and cheeks, corniced doorpieces, and ornate plasterwork. The rear room is apsidal-ended with a timber classical fireplace (moved from an upstairs room) and good plasterwork.

The first floor former drawing room, now subdivided, retains good plasterwork including a shallow relief frieze. The rear room to the west has good plasterwork including a frieze and a grey and pink marble classical chimneypiece; the rear room to the east has a painted stone chimneypiece. The stairs and landings feature stone cantilevered stairs with ornate cast-iron balusters, wrought-iron lamp brackets and cast-iron tray rests to the first and second floor landings. Doorways have pulvinated architraves, with additional round-headed architraves with shallow relief mouldings to the first floor landing doorways. Good plasterwork is evident throughout. Above the stairwell, an oval cupola surmounts a pendentived domed ceiling.