5 Royal Terrace, Edinburgh

5 Royal Terrace, Edinburgh

No. 5 Royal Terrace is part of an extremely long 121-bay palace front terrace of townhouses designed by William Playfair between 1820 and 1824. This individual house was built between 1823 and the early 1830s.

The building is a 3-bay, 3-storey and basement townhouse forming part of a highly coordinated composition. The terrace as a whole is distinguished by an arched and rusticated ground floor, with a central 3-storey section punctuated by three 3-storey and attic Corinthian colonnaded pavilions. To the left and right are flanking 3-storey balustraded sections leading to further 3-storey sections with 3-storey and attic Ionic colonnaded pavilions, with 2-storey balustraded sections at the outer edges.

The principal (north) elevation displays painted droved ashlar to the basement, V-chamfered rustication to the ground floor, and polished ashlar to the upper floors. A base course, impost course to the ground floor, dividing bands between floors, narrow band courses to the first floor, band courses above the second floor, eaves cornice, and balustraded parapet articulate the facade. Fenestration is regular throughout, with predominantly 12-pane glazing in timber sash and case windows (17-pane to the ground floor and 15-pane to the first floor). To the basement, there are windows to the left and right bays, with a timber-panelled door featuring a 3-light fanlight in a segmentally-headed opening to the centre bay. The ground floor has a timber-panelled door with flanking 4-pane margin lights and a segmental fanlight with petal-style glazing, approached by steps and a platt overarching the basement recess. Cast-iron balconettes ornament the first-floor windows.

The rear (south) elevation presents a 2-bay frontage at upper levels, widening to 3 bays at ground floor, also 3-storey and basement. It is constructed of predominantly coursed squared rubble with dressed margins, with band courses dividing the ground and first floors, eaves cornice, and blocking course. A French window occupies the left bay at ground floor, a part-glazed door with 6-pane fanlight above the centre bay, and a small window the right.

The roof is mansard with central valleys, covered in graded grey slate with stone skews and skewputts. To the east are mutual corniced ashlar ridge stacks serving front and rear pitches, predominantly with circular cans.

The front basement recess and platt are edged by stone coping surmounted by cast-iron railings featuring dog bars, spear-head finials, and a distinctive circled border. To the rear, a random rubble boundary wall with flat coping encloses the garden, surmounted at its south end by cast-iron railings.

The interior retains exceptional quality throughout. The ground-floor lobby has a stone flagged floor, round-headed niche, compartmented ceiling with good plasterwork, and a pilastered timber screen featuring a basket-arched opening with two-leaf glazed doors and fanlight, with an additional petal-pattern segmental fanlight above. The former dining room features good ornate plasterwork (replacement ceiling rose), a grey marble chimneypiece, and two presses with corniced doorpieces. The rear ground-floor room, now the kitchen, retains good ornate cornicing.

On the first floor, the former drawing room contains a white marble chimneypiece, good ornate cornicing (replacement ceiling rose), and a double doorway with pilastered doorpiece (cornice missing) leading to the rear room. The rear western room displays good ornate cornicing and ceiling rose, together with a later timber chimneypiece. The front eastern room also retains good ornate cornicing.

Stone cantilevered stairs with slender cast-iron balusters connect the floors, with an oval cupola above the stairwell and good plasterwork to the stairwell ceiling and landings.