10 Royal Terrace, Edinburgh

10 Royal Terrace, Edinburgh

Number 10 Royal Terrace was designed by William Playfair between 1820 and 1824, with this particular house constructed between 1823 and the early 1830s. It forms part of an extremely long 121-bay palace front terrace of townhouses. The terrace features an arched and rusticated ground floor, with a 3-storey centre section punctuated by three 3-storey and attic Corinthian colonnaded pavilions. Flanking sections to left and right are 3-storey balustraded, leading to 3-storey sections with 3-storey and attic Ionic colonnaded pavilions. The outer left and right sections are 2-storey balustraded. All houses have basements.

The basement is faced with droved ashlar. The ground floor has V-chamfered rustication. The upper floors are faced with polished ashlar, whilst the rear elevation is predominantly coursed squared rubble with dressed margins.

The principal (north) elevation is 2-storey with basement and attic, spanning 3 bays. The basement contains a timber-panelled door with segmental fanlight at its centre, flanked by windows in segmentally-headed openings. The ground floor to the left bay has steps and a platt overarching the basement recess, leading to a timber-panelled door with flanking margin lights (now blocked) and a segmental fanlight. The remaining bays contain windows. Round-headed openings sit in round-headed overarches. The first floor features cast-iron balconnettes to the windows and a band course above. An eaves cornice and balustraded parapet run across the elevation, with 2 dormer windows to the roof.

The south (rear) elevation is 2-bay, with band courses between basement and ground floors and between ground and first floors. An eaves cornice and blocking course finish the elevation. A small mono-pitch timber and glass extension extends to the right.

The glazing is predominantly 12-pane throughout, though the ground and first floor frontage features plate glass. All windows are timber sash and case. The double-pitch roof has a mansard profile to the front elevation and central valleys, finished in graded grey slate. The front elevation has mutual corniced ashlar ridge stacks surmounted by linked octagonal flues to left and right. The rear has a corniced stone ridge stack to the left and a rendered corniced ridge stack to the right, with predominantly circular cans.

To the front, cast-iron railings with dog bars, spear-head finials and a distinctive circled border edge the basement recess and platt, rising from stone coping. The rear boundary is formed of random rubble walling with flat coping, with an end wall surmounted by spear-head finialled cast-iron railings.

The interior is richly decorated. The ground floor lobby features a mosaic floor and a round-headed niche to the left, with a compartmented ceiling displaying shallow-relief plasterwork to caissons and good ornamental plasterwork overall. A segmentally-headed opening with pilastered architrave leads through to the stair hall. The former dining room contains a classical black slate chimneypiece, good ornamental plasterwork, corniced and architraved doorpieces, and Lincrusta style wallcovering below the dado rail. The rear room (west) is apsidal ended with good plasterwork.

The first floor former drawing room features a classical white and yellow veined marble chimneypiece with gilt overmantel, good ornamental plasterwork, corniced and architraved doorpieces, and a 2-leaf door leading to the rear room (west). The rear room (west) has a classical timber chimneypiece, good ornamental plasterwork, and architraved doorpieces (corniced to the double doorway). The rear room (east) has a moulded cornice.

The stairs and landing contain an oval cupola in a compartmented ceiling with good plasterwork to landings and ceiling, and ornamental cast-iron balusters. A cast-iron tray rest with decorative wrought iron brackets sits to the first floor landing, with wrought-iron tray brackets and a lantern bracket to the second (attic) floor.