4 Royal Terrace, Edinburgh

4 Royal Terrace, Edinburgh

Number 4 Royal Terrace is part of an extremely long 121-bay palace front terrace of townhouses designed by William Playfair between 1820 and 1824, with this individual property built between 1823 and the early 1830s. The terrace features an arched and rusticated ground floor with a central section of three storeys and an attic, 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, with 2-storey balustraded sections at the outer edges. All houses have basements.

The principal north elevation presents a 3-bay, 3-storey composition with basement and attic. The basement is finished in painted droved ashlar, with the ground floor featuring V-chamfered rustication and windows to the left and centre bays in segmentally headed openings. The right bay contains a timber-panelled door with a 3-light fanlight. The ground floor has a round-headed opening with a round-headed overarch to the right bay, accessed by steps and a platt overarching a basement recess. This door is timber-panelled with flanking 4-pane margin lights and a segmental fanlight with petal-style glazing. The upper floors are finished in polished ashlar with regular fenestration. The 1st floor features giant attached Ionic columns dividing the bays and supporting the entablature between the 2nd and attic floors. Pilasters divide the bays at attic level. An eaves cornice and blocking course complete the elevation. The rear elevation is predominantly finished in coursed squared rubble with dressed margins. It presents 2 bays to the basement and ground floors and 3 bays to the upper floors. A canted bay window extends across the basement and ground floors of the right bay, fitted with plate-glass. The left bay to the ground floor features an additional mezzanine level window.

Glazing throughout the principal elevation is in timber sash and case windows: 12-pane to basement and 2nd floor, 17-pane to ground floor, 15-pane to 1st floor, and 6-pane to attic floor. The rear elevation predominantly features 6-lying-pane glazing, with 14-lying-pane glazing to the 1st floor and 8-lying-pane glazing to the 2nd floor. The roof is an M-roof with central valleys, finished in graded grey slate with stone skews and skewputts. A mutual corniced ridge stack stands to the west, with a gable-head stack (mutual) to the east; the flues are predominantly circular cans.

To the front, cast-iron railings with dog bars and spear-head finials surmount a stone coping that edges the basement recess and platt. These railings feature a distinctive circled border. To the rear, a random rubble boundary wall with flat coping defines the garden, with cast-iron railings surmounting the wall's south end.

The interior preserves significant original detailing. The ground floor lobby is pilastered with a stone flagged floor and Greek Doric columns forming a screen to the inner hall. A pink veined marble chimneypiece, coffered ceiling, and excellent plasterwork complete this space. The former dining room features ornate cornicing and a ceiling rose, with a columned black marble chimneypiece inset with brass. The rear west room has similar ornate cornicing, a two-tone grey marble chimneypiece with ornate brass inset.

The 1st floor former drawing room contains a white marble chimneypiece and fender, ornate cornicing and ceiling rose, and is divided by Corinthian columns in anta. Double doors with paterae-enriched architrave lead to the rear room. The rear west room has matching architectural treatment with double door architrave, ornate cornicing, ceiling rose, and white marble chimneypiece and fender.

Stone cantilevered stairs with ornate cast-iron balusters ascend through the building, with cast-iron tray rests at the 1st and 2nd floors. Above the stairwell, a rectangular piended cupola in the coffered ceiling displays excellent ornate plasterwork.