Tenements, 57, 59, 61 Canongate, Edinburgh

Callender House and Whitefoord House form an irregular, adjoining complex set back from the Canongate in Edinburgh. Whitefoord House was built by Robert Mylne between 1769 and 1770, and Callender House around 1770. A later single-storey hall was added in 1927, and Kenneth Hill House in 1981, completing the complex. The buildings are predominantly constructed from harled rubble with painted dressings.

Whitefoord House is a symmetrical, three-storey building with a basement, and a rectangular plan. It features a Roman Doric pedimented porch to the front, raised quoins, and a two-leaf timber panelled door within an architraved surround topped with a consoled and dentiled cornice. The rear of the house has four bays, with remnants of a corniced and consoled surround. Inside, a fine cast-iron and wrought-iron internal stair is present. Callender House is also three storeys with a basement and attic, originally rectangular in plan. It has raised quoins and regular window placement, with a gabled dormer in the centre. A consoled doorpiece is located at the rear. A 20th-century two-storey projection extends from the outer left side, connected to a single-storey hall via a two-leaf, part-glazed timber door on the south elevation. This hall has a decorative segmental-arched surround and stylized gablehead.

Lodges at Nos. 142 and 144 Calton Road are rectangular, joined by a segmental arch. They have later additions and are whitewashed with painted dressings, featuring 12-pane timber sash and case windows. No. 144 has a pyramidal roof with a coped and harled wallhead stack.

The block at Nos. 57-61 Canongate comprises an early 19th-century, four-storey tenement and an 18th-century house with an attic. It is whitewashed with painted dressings and painted render to the ground floor. The principal elevation has a former shop front on the right and regular fenestration above. A square-headed pend, 'Forsyth's Close' is positioned at ground floor centre. A room on the first floor is understood to contain a dado, key-pattern frieze, and semi-domed Rococo plasterwork cupboard.

Most windows have 12-pane glazing in timber sash and case frames with horns, and various rooflights. The roofs are covered with grey slate, and have coped and harled ridge and apex stacks with circular clay cans. Cast-iron rainwater goods are in place.

Rubble boundary walls partially enclose the site, featuring iron railings. Whitewashed, rectangular gatepiers mark the entrances at Nos. 53 ('Younger Gate') and 63 ('McEwan Gate'), both with coped ashlar gatepiers. Coped, harled walls run along Calton Road, with a pedestrian opening to the left. Iron gates provide access. Landscaped gardens include curving, bi-furcated steps, a sundial, and a drinking fountain.