25 Royal Terrace, Edinburgh

Royal Terrace, Edinburgh

William Playfair designed this terrace between 1820 and 1824, with No 25 built between 1823 and the early 1830s. The house forms part of an extremely long 121-bay palace-front terrace of townhouses. The terrace features an arched and rusticated ground floor, with a three-storey central section punctuated by three three-storey and attic Corinthian colonnaded pavilions. To the left and right are flanking three-storey balustraded sections leading to three-storey sections with three-storey and attic Ionic colonnaded pavilions, and two-storey balustraded sections to the outer left and right. All houses have basements.

The principal north elevation has a painted droved ashlar basement; V-chamfered rustication to the ground floor; and polished ashlar to the upper floors. The rear elevation is predominantly coursed squared rubble with dressed margins. Base courses, dividing bands between floors, impost courses, and band courses mark the elevation, with an eaves cornice and balustraded parapet above. The fenestration is regular to both principal and rear elevations. The ground floor has round-headed openings in round-headed overarches.

No 25 has a three-bay, three-storey and basement principal elevation. To the basement, there is a window in a segmentally-headed opening to the left bay; to the centre bay, a timber-panelled and glazed door with a three-light segmental fanlight; and to the right, a wall with a bipartite window. To the ground floor, the right bay has steps and a platt (mutual with No 24) overarching the basement recess and leading to a timber-panelled door with flanking margin lights and a segmental fanlight. Cast-iron balconettes flank the first-floor windows.

The rear elevation is two-bay, three-storey and basement, with band courses, an eaves cornice, and a blocking course.

Glazing is predominantly plate glass, with 12-pane glazing to the basement and second floor of the front elevation and to the second floor of the rear, 4-pane glazing to the first floor of the front elevation, and predominantly timber sash and case windows throughout. The roof is M-pitched with a central valley, stone skews and skewputts.

The front boundary features stone coping surmounted by cast-iron railings with dog bars, spear-head finials and a distinctive circled border, edging the basement recess and platt. To the left of the platt is a wrought-iron lamp standard. The rear boundary, forming the garden edge, comprises random rubble walls with predominantly flat coping.

The interior retains significant quality. On the ground floor, the lobby has a mosaic floor, a niche to the right, a compartmented ceiling, and a pilastered doorpiece to the rear of the outer door. A two-leaf timber and glazed door with etched glass and pilastered and corniced doorpiece leads to the inner hall. The former dining room, now subdivided into two rooms and a hallway, features good plasterwork and a black slate classical chimneypiece, with a corniced doorpiece to a press. The rear eastern room is apsidal-ended with a black slate classical chimneypiece and good plasterwork.

The first floor contains a former drawing room with two large double doorways, two-leaf timber-panelled doors, and a white marble classical chimneypiece. The rear eastern room, now subdivided into a hall, bedroom and bathroom, retains good plasterwork and a white marble classical fireplace.

The stairs and landings feature an oval cupola above the stairs, cast-iron balusters (with the bottom flight altered), and wrought-iron lantern brackets to the first and second floor landings.