3 Royal Terrace, Edinburgh

3 Royal Terrace, Edinburgh

A Grade-listed townhouse, part of William Playfair's ambitious Royal Terrace scheme, designed from 1820–4 with Number 3 constructed around 1859.

The terrace is an exceptionally long 121-bay palace-front composition of townhouses. The principal elevation features an arched and rusticated ground floor with a central section of three storeys and attic, punctuated by three substantial three-storey Corinthian colonnaded pavilions. Flanking sections of three storeys with balustraded elements lead to outer pavilions featuring three-storey Ionic colonnaded elements with attic storeys. The far left and right sections are two storeys with balustraded parapets. All houses have basements beneath.

The façade employs painted droved ashlar to basement level, V-chamfered rustication to the ground floor, and polished ashlar to the upper floors. Rear elevations are constructed of coursed squared rubble with dressed margins. The principal elevation incorporates a base course, dividing band between basement and ground floor, impost course to ground floor, dividing band between ground and first floors, and to the first floor, narrow band courses broken by windows to each bay. Fenestration is regular throughout the principal elevation and predominantly regular on the rear elevation. Ground-floor openings are round-headed, set within round-headed overarches.

The north-facing principal elevation of Number 3 comprises three bays. The left and centre bays are three storeys with basement and attic; the right bay is two storeys with basement and attic. To the basement, the left bay contains a window in a segmentally-headed opening; the centre bay has a timber-panelled door with three-light fanlight in similar opening. The basement area is blocked by a droved ashlar wall with a bipartite window. At ground-floor level, the right bay features steps and a platform with platt overarching the basement recess, leading to a timber-panelled door flanked by margin lights beneath a segmental fanlight.

The upper floors to the right bay feature an unbroken band course above first-floor windows, eaves cornice, balustraded parapet, and dormer windows to each bay on the roof. To the left and centre bays, the first floor is articulated by giant attached Ionic columns dividing the bays and supporting an entablature between the second and attic floors; pilasters divide the attic-floor bays. Eaves cornice and blocking course complete these elevations.

The south-facing rear elevation is three bays: the left bay is three storeys with basement; the centre and right bays are three storeys with basement and attic. A band course divides the ground and first floors; cornice and band course divide the second and attic floors. Eaves cornice and blocking course finish the elevation. The left bay has a rounded corner. A single-storey modern flat-roofed rendered extension is attached at ground-floor level to the left bay.

Glazing throughout is predominantly 15-pane in timber sash-and-case windows. Basement and second-floor windows to the north elevation retain 12-pane glazing; attic windows to the north elevation have 6-pane glazing. The second floor to the south elevation has 6-pane glazing, with 6 lying-pane glazing to the attic on the south elevation. The left bay first floor to the south elevation has 4-pane glazing.

The roof is mansard-style to the right bay of the front elevation and M-roofed with central valleys to the remainder, finished with graded grey slate. Stone skews and skewputts are present. A mutual corniced ashlar ridge stack surmounted by linked octagonal flues serves the principal elevation on the west; a mutual ridge stack with predominantly circular cans is positioned to the east.

To the front, stone coping surmounted by cast-iron railings with dog bars, spear-head finials, and distinctive circled border edges the basement recess and platt. The rear boundary is formed by a random rubble wall with flat coping; railings once terminated the south end but are now missing.