10 Blenheim Place, Edinburgh

10 Blenheim Place is a tenement range designed by William Henry Playfair in 1821, and constructed in 1824 by J Dickson. The building is situated on a steeply sloping site and presents a symmetrical classical design. It has a single storey and basement to Blenheim Place and the east elevation, rising to four or five stories at the rear. The building comprises fifteen bays facing Blenheim Place and five bays facing east.

The facade is constructed from polished ashlar stone, with droved ashlar (some painted) used for the basements along Blenheim Place. The rear elevation incorporates coursed squared rubble with droved margins. Architectural details include a dividing band between the basement and ground floor, an eaves course and cornice, and a blocking course. The east elevation features a Greek Doric colonnade, while coupled pilasters divide the bays facing Blenheim Place. Generally, the window arrangement is regular.

The north (Blenheim Place) elevation has steps and entrance platts that cover the basement recess, leading to five doorways. Each door is made of timber panels with a fanlight above, featuring letterbox glazing; the doors at numbers 6 and 9 are divided into five oval lights. Single windows flank the doors on either side. The east elevation has a single central window at basement level, above which is a blank wall featuring six engaged fluted Greek Doric columns.

The south (rear) elevation has two shouldered doorways and a dividing band between the ground and first floors on the right side. To the left is a four-storey, two-bay bowed section, and to the outer left are three additional four-storey, single-bay bowed sections. Window placement is generally regular, although window styles and sizes vary.

The majority of the building features timber sash and case windows with 12 panes of glass; some modern casements are present at the rear. The roof is flat and punctuated by five corniced stacks, rendered with a random rubble centre, and topped with circular cans, spaced regularly across the roofline, beginning at the east wallhead.

Boundary walls of random rubble with stone copings run north to south from the centre of the rear elevation, and also extend from east to west. A doorway with dressed margins and a modern garage door and doorway have been inserted into the east elevation of the wall. To the north elevation, stone copes edge the basement recesses and platts, topped with cast iron railings and gates featuring a circular design at the top and spear-headed dog bars.