48 Melville Street, Edinburgh

48 Melville Street in Edinburgh is a classical terrace building designed by Robert Brown in 1814 and constructed in 1826, with Nos. 58 and 60 added in 1860. The terrace features a unified façade of three-storey and basement, three-bay townhouses, with main-door and common stair flats located behind. A five-bay corner block extends to the west, returning five bays to Manor Place. There are later attic additions to Nos. 54 and 60, and alterations to No. 54 were made by Robert Lorimer in 1903. Further modifications to No. 31 Manor Place were carried out by R Hurd and Partners for the Open University in 1970. The basement area includes some vaulted cellars and retaining walls.

The building is constructed from sandstone ashlar, which is droved to the basement and vermiculated at the end block, while the ground floor is channelled. The entrance platts oversail the basement, and there is a banded base course along with banded cill and string courses at the first floor. The corner block features a parapet with a balustrade at the center, and round-arched recessed surrounds to the outer bays. The outer windows of the corner block have architraves and cornices. The return to Manor Place is similar to that on Melville Street.

The windows are predominantly 12-pane timber sash and case, with 24- and 16-pane glazing in No. 54, including leaded attic windows on the rear elevation. The building has a mansard roof covered in grey slates, with corniced ashlar gable end and ridge stacks topped with modern clay cans. Cast-iron railings edge the basement recess, set on ashlar coping stones.

Inside, the interior is characterized by a highly decorative classical scheme featuring detailed cornicing, which has been converted for office and residential use since 2008. No. 54 showcases a Neo-Tudor interior scheme by Robert Lorimer, including a ribbed and timber-panelled ceiling with a carved boss in a canted bay at the rear. Large sandstone fire surrounds with Neo-Tudor detailing are also present.

The building features decorative cast-iron arched lamp holders with a central lamp holder, although only a few lamp bowls remain. Original cast-iron serpent lamp extinguishers are present on the railings throughout the property.