16, 18 Calton Hill, Edinburgh

16 and 18 Calton Hill is a later 18th century terraced tenement building situated on a steeply sloping site, partly below street level. It features two storeys, a basement, and an attic, with a three-bay layout and a central nepus gable on both the front and rear elevations. The exterior is constructed of harled rubble with polished ashlar margins and has regular fenestration.

On the south (principal) elevation, stone steps lead down to a basement recess, where a timber-panelled door is flanked by windows on either side. The ground floor has a timber-panelled door with a three ogee-headed light fanlight, accessed via a flyover platt that arches over the basement recess. There is a cill band at the ground floor level. The first floor includes an additional bay on the far right, featuring a timber-panelled door with a three-light fanlight, which is approached from the street level platt.

The north (rear) elevation has a timber and glazed door at the far right. The attic floor contains dormers on either side of the nepus gable.

The building predominantly features 12-pane glazing in timber sash and case windows, while the dormers have 9-pane glazing. The dormers are topped with grey slate cat-slide roofs, timber fascias, and lead haffits. The pitched roof is covered with graded grey slate and has stone skews and skewputts. Both nepus gables have gablehead stacks with circular cans.

The boundary walls include a front garden area with two tiers of random rubble arches that support platts for entry to Nos. 18 and 20. There are cast iron railings along the platt leading to the door of No. 18, as well as cast iron railings and a gate separating the garden from the pavement, featuring a large obelisk-like stone feature. The rear garden area has a high retaining random rubble wall to the east, with two doorways, one above the other, at ground level. A random rubble wall to the north has segmental coping and a doorway with dressed margins, a carved lintel with patera and fluting, and a drip-mould above. From the rear of the building to the north wall, there is a stone balustrade with square section balusters and feather-edged coping.