238, 240, 242, 244 Canongate, Edinburgh

238, 240, 242, and 244 Canongate is an outstanding U-plan 'mansion flat' tenement built between 1742 and 1748 by Archibald Chesil, with later alterations and restoration carried out in 1963-64 by Robert Hurd and Partners. This three-storey building, which includes a basement and attic, is located on the south side of Chessel's Court. The exterior features harled rubble with ashlar dressings. The central bay has a three-light wallhead gable and a timber door with a fanlight, surrounded by a rusticated round-arched frame with in-and-out voussoirs, and key-blocked round-arched windows above. The four-storey east wing includes a door with a Gothick box-fanlight and a pedimented cornice to the far right. There is also a half-octagonal stair tower in the re-entrant angle of the west wing, and an enclosed, terraced garden at the rear.

Inside, the principal rooms on the ground and first floors feature fine cornicework and timber panelling, along with Rococo chimneypieces that have carved overmantels and pulvinated friezes. Some restored panel paintings, possibly by James Norrie, can be found, as well as decorative doorpieces. The building includes cast iron balustrades and stone stairs.

The windows are predominantly 12-pane timber sash and case with horns, and the roof is covered with Scottish slate, featuring ridge stacks and cast-iron rainwater goods.