1 Regent Terrace, Edinburgh

A building of group value, 1 Regent Terrace is a townhouse designed by William Playfair in 1825, with redesigns in 1831, and constructed between 1831 and 1833. It forms part of a long terrace of 34 classical townhouses, each with three bays on the main floors and four bays in the basement. Many of the townhouses have later additions of a third storey; the third storey at 1 Regent Terrace was incorporated into Playfair's 1831 design. The terrace is punctuated by two pavilions, each with 18 bays and three storeys, featuring three-bay advanced sections at each end (numbers 11-16 and 23-28), and a 12-bay, three-storey section at the western end (numbers 1-4). The terrace steps down at intervals to follow the slope of the road.

The building features droved ashlar on the basement, polished ashlar on the upper floors, and predominantly coursed squared rubble with dressed margins on the rear elevation. A rendered side elevation is also present. The principal elevation has a base course, dividing bands between the basement and ground floor and between the ground and first floors, and a cornice above the first-floor windows (excluding the pavilions). A continuous cast-iron trellis balcony with a Greek key border runs along the first floor. A band above the first-floor windows, a main cornice dividing the first and second floors, eaves cornices, and a blocking course complete the exterior detailing. Doorpieces are formed with fluted attached Greek Doric columns. The fenestration is regular on the principal elevation, with architraved windows to the ground, first, and second floors; the ground floor windows have panelled aprons. The rear elevation has predominantly regular window placement.

On the south-east (principal) elevation, in the basement, there is a timber panelled door with a 4-light fanlight, with windows in the remaining bays. The ground floor has steps and a platt overarching a basement recess, leading to a two-leaf timber-panelled door with a letterbox fanlight.

The south-west (side) elevation features an advanced bay in the centre with a tripartite blind window on the first floor, with a small central opening, and three windows on the second floor. A band course and cornice divide the ground and first floors, on the return from the front elevation to the right bay only.

The north-west (rear) elevation is a two-bay elevation with a two-storey, piend-roofed mutual outshoot (shared with number 2) to the left bay. Eaves courses are present overall.

The windows consist predominantly of plate glass, with basement windows having 12-pane glazing and the rest using timber sash and case windows. The roof is part piended and part M-roofed, with a central valley; it is covered in graded grey slate with stone skews and skewputts. Ashlar wallhead stacks are located to the east, while a rendered corniced mutual ridge stack is located to the west, both topped with predominantly circular cans.

Stone coping with cast-iron railings (featuring dog bars, spear-head finials, and a distinctive circled border) edges the basement recess and platt at the front. Random rubble walls with flat coping form the rear boundary, enclosing the garden.