4 Glencairn Crescent, Edinburgh

25 Glencairn Crescent, Edinburgh

A 3-storey terrace house with basement, designed by John Chesser between 1873 and 1879, forming part of a larger development of bowed terraces arranged around Glencairn Crescent and Coates Gardens. The building is constructed of polished, channelled sandstone ashlar with polished dressings to the main facades and droved sandstone to the basement.

The architectural treatment is refined and consistent throughout. Each house features a 2-bay frontage with 2-storey and basement canted bays. The facade is articulated by a base course, a corniced cill course to the canted bays at ground level, and a band course between ground and first floors that becomes a cornice at the canted bays. Above the first-floor canted bay windows sits a cornice and blocking course with a circular-patterned wrought-iron balustrade forming a balcony. The second floor is marked by a banded cill course, bracketed at the window bay, and a stone balustrade runs along the roof edge. All windows have margins except those to the canted bays.

The entrance doorpieces are corniced with foliate consoles to plain pilasters flanking pilastered, keystoned, depressed-arch entrances. Each bay above the doorpiece has a consoled cornice and block cill. Windows throughout are predominantly 2-pane timber sash and case glazing.

At ground level, each house has a basement entrance with a panelled timber door, narrow flanking lights, and a depressed-arch fanlight, located beneath an entrance platt. The first and second floors contain single windows to the main elevation, with additional lights serving the canted bays.

The chimneys are mutual coped and channelled sandstone ashlar stacks with tall moulded, predominantly octagonal cans. Cast-iron rainwater goods complete the external services.

The street frontage is protected by spiked railings set to the coping, with plain railings serving the basement steps. Each house is divided at basement level by a coped, stugged, squared and snecked boundary wall.