Silverton And Gatepiers, 90, 92 Trinity Road, Edinburgh

Silverton and Gatepiers, 90, 92 Trinity Road, Edinburgh

This large two-storey house, now converted into flats, was built in 1867 and makes deliberate reference to 17th-century Scottish architectural tradition. The building is constructed in stugged coursed pale sandstone with ashlar dressings. A distinctive four-stage octagonal outlook tower with an ogee roof and weathervane projects from the north elevation, adding a prominent vertical accent to the composition.

The west elevation on Trinity Road comprises three bays, divided by a moulded course running between ground and second floor. The central bay features a crenellated single-storey porch that advances into and overlaps the left bay. The porch contains a timber panelled door with a rectangular fanlight set in a roll-moulded surround, and a single window appears in its right return. At first floor, a window with a semicircular dormerhead breaks the eaves line; the dormer contains fan-shaped relief carving within a corniced frame supported by consoles and is topped by a crescent finial.

The advanced gabled bay to the left has buckled quoins, a finial, kneelered skews and moulded skewputs. At ground floor, a crenellated canted window features heraldic carving at its centre crenellation. Above this, a shoulder-arched two-light window in the gable displays buckled tabs and strapwork; a small hoodmoulded window with a segmental head sits further up. To the right, a piend-roofed canted window occupies the ground floor, while the first-floor window has a curvilinear gablehead breaking the eaves and contains quatrefoil carving within a corniced frame, surmounted by a thistle finial.

The north elevation displays two two-storey gabled bays. The four-stage tower is attached to the left bay, with bustreses at each corner. Ground floor windows on the tower have roll-moulded surrounds, while the first stage carries narrow single windows with strapwork decoration above. The third stage contains narrow windows with roll-moulded surrounds, and a stepped dividing course marks the junction with the fourth stage. The viewing platform at fourth stage is parapetted with shoulder-arched openings finished in roll-moulding. The right bay is slightly advanced and corbelled out at first floor, featuring shoulder-arched two-light windows at both ground and first floor levels, a roll-moulded arrow slit window in the gablehead, a stepped dividing course between ground and second floor, kneelered skew with moulded skewputs, and a diamond-shaped finial. The left bay has a roll-moulded surround to a single ground floor window and an arrow slit window at first floor.

The east (rear) elevation contains five bays with a modern extension attached at ground floor. The narrow outer right bay has a stepped gable and corbelled gablehead stack, with a single first-floor window and an arrow slit window with chamfered reveals in the gablehead. The penultimate bay to the right carries a single window with a gablehead breaking the eaves at first floor. The centre bay contains a three-light stone-mullioned window. To the left, a narrow window with a curvilinear gablehead surmounted by a thistle finial breaks the eaves. The left bay features a corbelled chimney-breast with a decorative stepped course.

The south elevation shows an advanced right bay with a projecting swept half-piend roofed three-light stone-mullioned window at ground floor. At first floor, a two-light window has stop-chamfered reveals and stepped hoodmoulding containing heraldic carving; a stylised skew and ball finial crown the gablehead. The left bay contains a single window to the left at ground floor, with a gabled conservatory to the right. A stepped dividing course separates the storeys. A chimney-breast corbels out to square in the gablehead, decorated with moulding above and a corbelled stack, with gabletted crowsteps completing the composition.

Throughout the building, windows are predominantly plate glass set in timber sash and case frames. The roof is covered in graded grey slates. Decorative cast-iron supports to rhones include some decorative hoppers to downpipes.

The boundary walls are constructed of snecked and squared sandstone rubble stone with a coping course. Two sets of gatepiers, built in stugged ashlar, have projecting bases, stop-chamfered corners, platformed pyramidal caps and ball finials.