13, 13A Castle Street, Edinburgh

13 and 13A Castle Street in Edinburgh are former classical houses built between 1792 and 1794, which have undergone subsequent alterations. Originally symmetrical, these three-storey and attic buildings feature seven bays and now have shops extending from the ground floor. The exterior is made of droved cream ashlar sandstone, which has been cleaned and partially replaced, with polished dressings.

The modern shops project from the two left bays and three right bays, partly incorporating basements. A central common stair bay is slightly recessed and features an arched doorway with a keystone and a plate glass fanlight, all set in a polished ashlar surround. The main door to the left still exists, complete with a semicircular fanlight and framing pilasters. The former cornice of the flanking three-bay blocks at ground level survives on the right, along with one capital of the doorway. The first floor has corniced architraved windows, although the cornices have been removed on the right side. There is a panelled band course above, along with a cornice and blocking course. The roof has four late 19th-century canted piend-roofed dormers, three of which on the right are connected by slate-hung infill.

The windows are timber sash and case, with 15- and 12-pane designs on the left and plate glass in the stair and on the right. The building features ashlar coped mutual skews, rebuilt stone stacks, and grey slates.

Inside, the shops on the ground floor have been thoroughly modernised, with No 13 extending through to the mews lane. No 13 includes a two-bay arcaded hall with an enriched ceiling and a pilastered doorway that provides direct access to the shop. An open central stair, featuring alternate decorative cast-iron banisters, leads to the first floor. This stair is cantilevered with quarter landings, an open returned landing, and a consoled cornice adorned with a trophy frieze. The former two-bay drawing room runs from the front to the back and includes a white marble chimneypiece and a panelled dado. The flat has been divided, and there is a 19th-century cast-iron stair, with a full storey at the rear and an additional timber stair leading to the upper attic. In No 9, the stair has been removed at the ground floor, and the first-floor offices and above are accessed from a common stair, which appears to have been modernised.