Gladstone's Land, 481, 483, 485, 487 And 489 Lawnmarket, Edinburgh

Gladstone’s Land is a tenement building on the Lawnmarket in Edinburgh, with a complex history spanning the 16th to 19th centuries and undergoing significant restoration in 1934-36 by Frank C Mears and in 1979-80 by Robert Hurd and Partners. The front facade dates to 1621, while a rear wing originates from the 16th century and a substantial addition was made in the 18th century. Further alterations and additions occurred in the 19th century.

The main building presents a narrow, five-storey and attic tenement with a cellar, extending three bays. A notable feature is the open ground-floor arcade formed by two round-headed arches and a circular pier. A curved stone forestair with iron railings leads to a first-floor entrance on the outer left side, and two tall, gabled dormerheads with thistle and fleur-de-lys finials rise prominently above the eaves at the fourth floor. The building is constructed of grey ashlar, with moulded cill courses on the first, second, third, and fourth floors. Small windows provide light to a turnpike stair on the outer left, while the upper floors feature a mix of single and paired windows.

The rear wing, located in James Court, is a narrower, four-storey and attic structure incorporating earlier fabric from the 16th century, finished in grey harl.

The east elevation exhibits small staircase windows, an asymmetrical crowstepped gable, a two-storey timber outshot with boarded extensions, jettied timber storeys at the third and fourth floors, paired gabled dormerheads breaking the attic eaves, and a rubble-built block adjoining to the northeast.

The north elevation includes a pentice-roofed stair tower with a boarded timber door and small stair windows, a curved corner, and a recessed blind bay with a chequer-set machicolation above a moulded corbel course. Remains of earlier construction are visible.

The west elevation features two bays with a regular fenestration pattern, with the left-hand first-floor window blocked, and a large wallhead stack.

The interior retains significant historic features, including a timber shop-front set back behind the arcade. Important painted decoration adorns the timber ceilings and beams of rooms on the first, second, and third floors. An 18th-century panelled room to the rear features a bolection-moulded chimneypiece.

Fenestration comprises small-pane fixed leaded glazing above, timber shutters below, and predominantly 12-pane timber sash and case windows to the rear. The roof is covered in grey slates, with crowstepped stone skews. Tall corniced stacks with circular cans are situated on the right side.