55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60 George Square, Edinburgh

These are a group of six houses, numbered 55 to 60 George Square, Edinburgh, built between 1774 and 1779 by James Brown. The buildings have undergone numerous alterations and additions over the years, including a subdivision of number 57 into numbers 57 and 58 in 1824, internal linking of numbers 56 and 57 in 1893 for the Edinburgh Medical Missionary Society, internal alterations at number 56 in 1928 also for the Edinburgh Medical Missionary Society, and alterations and additions to number 60 in 1947 for the University of Edinburgh's Midwifery Department. Later alterations have also been carried out by the University Department of Works.

The houses form a five-storey terrace, built in a classical style with a mainly rectangular plan. Numbers 55 to 59 are constructed with Craigleith droved ashlar stone, while number 60 is built of squared snecked pink and cream Craigmillar rubble sandstone with blue whin pinnings. The buildings sit on a sloping ground, forming the northeast portion of George Square. They feature Roman Doric doorcases, some with coupled columns and elided friezes; number 60 has a later Greek Ionic doorcase. Cast iron balconies are present on some windows at numbers 57 and 58.

The windows are timber sash and case with 4-pane glazing. Tall corniced gable stacks topped with yellow clay cans are visible.

Internally, many of the rooms have been altered and connected, but significant elements of the original Georgian interior schemes remain, including late 18th-century staircases with decorative iron balusters and timber handrails, marble and timber fireplaces, panelled timber doors, fine cornices, and some timber dadoes. Number 57 (now divided into numbers 57 and 58) was the largest house originally and boasts a particularly fine interior, featuring a decorative inner screen with a fanlight and an 18th-century staircase with iron balusters and a timber handrail at the rear. The front public rooms show especially good plasterwork, with one room featuring three windows and the other two windows. The possible vestiges of an archway between the two front rooms suggest that they may have once formed a single large entertainment space. While detailing in the other houses is generally simple but of good quality, there is a variety of features present throughout.