9 Carlton Terrace, Edinburgh

9 Carlton Terrace is a substantial, classically-detailed townhouse built between 1821 and 1825, designed by William Playfair, with construction continuing into the mid-1830s. It forms part of a long, hairpin-shaped terrace of 19 townhouses. Numbers 1-4 and 14-19 have straight three-bay frontages, while numbers 5-13 have curved four-bay frontages. The building is predominantly two storeys high with a basement, and features a balustraded parapet, with panelled sections to numbers 1, 14 and 17.

The basement is faced with droved ashlar, while the upper floors are of polished ashlar. Side and rear elevations are of coursed squared rubble with droved margins. Architectural detailing includes a base course to the basement, a dividing band between the basement and ground floors and again between the ground and first floors, and a modillioned eaves cornice to the front and a simple eaves band to the rear. Doorways have raised surrounds with consoled cornices. The fenestration is regular, with architraved and corniced windows; ground-floor windows have panelled aprons, while first-floor windows feature cast-iron balconnettes.

The principal (east) elevation displays a painted timber-panelled basement door with a three-light fanlight and a window to the right. The ground floor has steps and a platt leading to a two-leaf timber-panelled door with a rectangular fanlight in the third bay from the left. Two canted dormer windows are set behind the balustrade. The rear (west) elevation is a two-bay design.

Predominantly 12-pane glazing is used; some ground floor, first floor, and dormer windows have 4-pane glazing. The windows are primarily timber sash and case. The roof is double-pitched with a central valley, covered in graded grey slate with stone skews and skewputts. Front stacks are mutual and of ashlar with a canted front to the left and a rendered stack to the right. Rear stacks are similarly rendered. A few cast-iron rainwater goods are present.

Original stone coping and cast-iron railings with dog bars, spear-head finials and a distinctive circled border edge the basement recess and platt. A wrought iron lamp standard is positioned to the left of the platt. The garden boundary is defined by random rubble walls with predominantly flat coping.

Internally, the ground floor lobby features good plasterwork, a compartmented ceiling, a round-headed niche, and a corniced and pilastered doorpiece. The former dining room contains a painted classical chimney-piece and similar plasterwork. The stair hall has an oval cupola and stone stairs with cast-iron balusters, with further plasterwork on the landings and in the stair hall.