39, 41, 43 North Castle Street, Edinburgh

1. Symmetrical 3-storey basement and attic, 11-bay classical palace-fronted former pair of houses with flats above. Polished cream sandstone ashlar. Rock-faced basement; V-jointed rustication at ground; cill course at 1st floor and band course above; eaves cornice and blocking course. Central 3 bays slightly advanced at ground (arched doorway at centre with 9-panel door), supporting giant fluted Corinthian pilasters and pediment with oculus; 1st floor windows with blind balustrading to aprons. Flanking bays with 4-panelled doors and rectangular plate glass fanlights; outer bays united as pair of bows. Piend-roofed dormers; tripartite pair to right; dissimilar pair, canted and bipartite, to left.

Timber sash and case 12-pane windows. Ashlar coped skews; rendered stacks (rebuilt stone to S); grey slates.

INTERIOR: united as single office, with alterations to suit; large central corridor opened up at ground and 1st floors. No 39 with dog-leg stair on axis with entrance; alternate decorative cast-iron banisters; tripartite window with fluted pilasters and Gothic glazing; front room with carved timber chimneypiece with Gothic cluster columns, black marbling and marble slips; bow-ended rear room with fluted Ionic columns to chimneypiece. At 1st floor, 3 ceiling roses to stair, and tray rest; front and rear rooms formerly en suite with early 19th century veined black marble chimneypieces and pilastered interconnecting double doors (now shelved as bookcases); plain green marble chimneypiece to small front room. No 43 similar; stair extended to 2nd floor with matching banisters, no bow end at rear (tripartite windows); small single storey and basement extension to rear. At ground, front room with panelled dado, black slate chimneypiece; rear room with painted carved chimneypiece, frieze fluted with urns. At 1st floor, front room with very fine carved white marble chimneypiece; small front room with chimneypiece with fluted pilasters and gesso enrichments. At 2nd floor back to back top lit stairs with quarter landings to attics; that to N with later barley twist banisters; slapping through below upper flight. Principal front room of N flat with stop-fluted Corinthian screen, panelled dado, painted black slate chimneypiece and double doors to rear room with 19th century grey marble chimneypiece; range recess still evident in former kitchen at rear. S flat plainer with panelled dados; carved chimneypiece with gesso enrichments to small front room. Full storey to attics at rear.