3 Pilrig Street, Edinburgh

5 Pilrig Street is an early 19th-century pair of two-storey and attic houses, featuring two bays and a basement. These homes are part of a terrace of five houses. They are constructed from cream sandstone with a droved ashlar front and polished dressings, while the basement is made of coursed and squared rubble, and the rear is finished with coursed rubble. Notable architectural details include a moulded cill course at the ground floor, a band course above the ground floor, a dentilled eaves cornice with a blocking course, and ashlar mullions.

The front elevation is symmetrical, with pilastered doorways that are accessed by steps leading down to the basement recess at the center bays. The doorways feature panelled doors, with No 3 having a rectangular plate glass fanlight and No 5 showcasing a rectangular fanlight with original radial astragals. Each first-floor window above the doorways is single, while the outer bays have tripartite windows on both floors. The roof includes two canted piended dormers.

On the rear elevation, there are single windows and a tall wallhead stack to the left. The windows are timber sash and case with plate glass glazing. The roof is covered with black slate and has lead flashings, along with mutual coped stacks on the party walls and a sunk downpipe at the center.

The interior was not seen in 1993. The front of the property features a low boundary wall with remnants of original railings, as well as railings leading to the steps.