39 Palmerston Place, Edinburgh

33 Palmerston Place in Edinburgh is a terrace of townhouses designed by Alexander White between 1881 and 1884. The building features a unified façade of three-storey townhouses with basements and attics, showcasing Italianate detailing and full-height three-light canted bays. The main-door and common stair flats are located behind the façade. The corner block to the north, numbered 39, has three wide bays and a single advanced rectangular bay, with later attic additions.

The basement area includes some vaulted cellars and retaining walls, all constructed from sandstone ashlar. The entrance platts oversail the basements, and there is a banded base course. The canted bays have moulded cill and string courses, while the eaves course features a dentilled cornice. The deep round-arched stone doorpieces are flanked by Roman Doric half pilasters that rise to a bracketed cornice with a parapet, complemented by a plain fanlight and narrow sidelights. The first and second floor windows have moulded architraved surrounds, with bracketed cills at the second floor. The corner block has pedimented first floor windows, with triangular pediments on the outer bays and a segmental pediment in the centre. The attic features later rectangular dormers, some of which are slate-hung.

The windows are predominantly plate glass set in timber sash and case frames. The building has corniced ashlar gable, ridge, and wallhead stacks topped with modern clay cans. Cast-iron railings edge the basement recess to the street, and cast-iron rainwater goods are also present.

Inside, the interior is characterized by a decorative classical scheme, featuring fine plasterwork, ceiling roses, and well-detailed cornicing.