214 Portobello High Street, Portobello, Edinburgh

Early 19th century building with later alterations. A 2-storey frontage of 36 bays (including corner chamfered bays) extending along Portobello High Street, with shop accommodation at ground floor. The first floor is finished in droved ashlar with polished dressings, though rendered at Nos 230, 238, 240A (now partly revealing stonework beneath) and at the canted corner bays. The northeast elevation of No 240 is rubble stone. The building features a base course, band course, cill course (between Nos 236 and 240), and a mutuled cornice with blocking course, though the band course and cornice change level slightly between Nos 216 and 218, and between Nos 220 and 222-226.

South Elevation (Portobello High Street): Shop accommodation occupies the ground floor with windows to each bay of the first floor. Entrances to shops are located to the left of the 2nd bay, and to the 3rd, 5th, 9th, 16th, 20th, 24th, 28th, 32nd, 35th bays, and to the right of the 35th bay. A flush modern door with segmental-arch plate glass fanlight above to the left of the 4th bay serves as the entrance to first-floor dwelling accommodation (2 flats at No 214). A modern flush door with plate glass rectangular fanlight occupies the 11th bay, providing access to the first floor of No 220. A stop-chamfered doorpiece at the 18th bay has a semi-circular plate glass fanlight above, leading to a tiled pend with a 2-leaf panelled door at its end. No 232 (26th bay) features a stop-chamfered doorpiece with a 2-leaf panelled door and 2-pane basket-arched fanlight above, leading to a pend and first-floor flats. No 238 has a panelled door with plate glass rectangular fanlight. Stop-chamfered arrises are evident on the stone mullions in the shopfronts of Nos 210 and 212. Modern shopfronts have been installed at Nos 216, 218, 222-224, 234, 236, 240A and 240. No 220 has windows to each bay with individual fascia to each, used as shop windows. No 228 features a wide panelled 2-leaf door at its centre with a segmental-arch 4-pane fanlight above bearing a keystone and wrought-iron guard in front, with windows to flanking bays at ground floor. No 230 retains a 19th-century shopfront with broad fascia, originally with flanking pilasters bearing console capitals (also to centre).

Northwest Elevation: A 3-bay elevation (irregularly disposed) with a 2-storey addition to the northeast and a further brick addition set back (possibly to the rear of No 214). Bull-faced render finishes the ground floor with droved-finished render to the addition. The ground floor is blank, with windows to each bay at first floor; the outer right window is blinded. The addition to the northeast has a window at ground floor and bipartite windows at first floor of the brick addition.

Southeast Elevation: A 5-bay elevation (irregularly grouped) with windows to each bay and floor. The outer right bay is blank at ground floor; the windows at the 1st, 2nd and 5th bays of the first floor are blinded. A harled addition to the rear of Nos 236-238 incorporates a window, modern door, and narrow plate glass rectangular fanlight above.

Windows: The building displays a variety of windows. Timber plate glass sash and case windows occupy bays 1-7, 12-18, and 23-36. Timber plate glass casements are fitted to bays 8-10. Modern aluminium plate glass sash and case windows are installed at bays 19-22. The roof is of grey slate with an unbroken roofline. Various chimney stacks are present, including a rendered and coped tall wallhead stack to the northwest elevation and a truncated sandstone wallhead stack to the southeast elevation.

Interiors: Much altered. Remnants of original interior survive, particularly of special interest at the butchers at No 228, which retains timber Doric columns supporting an entablature with mutuled cornice and segmental arch above the door leading to back rooms.

Boundary Walls: Droved ashlar with coping fronts Regent Street (northwest). Sandstone with coping and some original railings face Marlborough Street (southeast).