53 Portland Street, Leith, Edinburgh

53 Portland Street in Leith, Edinburgh, is an earlier 19th-century building consisting of three two-storey and attic terraced houses on a raised basement. Nos 51 and 53 are a mirrored pair, featuring central doors. The exterior is made of cream droved ashlar sandstone with polished dressings, and the basement is constructed from dressed rubble. There is a base course and a cornice, with a blocking course to Nos 45 and 47. The fenestration is regular, with dividing and terminal pilaster strips.

The panelled doors have rectangular plate glass fanlights set in pilastered and corniced doorpieces, with the door to the right bay of Nos 45 and 47 and 49. Each house has a basement door and a single window. Nos 45, 47, 49, and 51 feature piend-roofed dormers and skylights, while No 53 has a pair of tripartite dormers.

No 53 has timber sash and case plate glass windows, although several tilt and swing replacements are present in neighbouring properties. The roof is covered with grey slates, and there are coped ashlar stacks and ashlar coped mutual skews.

The walls and railings include low rubble front and dividing walls topped with saddleback ashlar coping, along with cast-iron railings that feature some spearheads.