17 Rothesay Place, Edinburgh

17 Rothesay Place in Edinburgh is a pair of townhouses built in 1888 by John Watherston and Sons, likely designed by James Watherston. The buildings are three stories tall with basements and an attic, featuring a plain classical style. The basement area includes some vaulted cellars and retaining walls. The exterior is made of sandstone ashlar, with droved ashlar used for the basement. The entrance areas extend over the basements, and there are corniced canted bays at the basement, ground, and first floors. The ground floor has a banded base course, while a moulded string course runs above the windows, and there is a corniced eaves course at the second floor. The prominent corniced ashlar doorpieces have sidelights and plain leaded rectangular fanlights above the lintels, all framed within bracket-shaped roll-moulding, topped with a shallow round arched pediment. The first floor features moulded architraved surrounds with moulded cills to the left, and the second floor has architraved surrounds with slightly advanced shaped aprons and bracketed cills. The attic has later rectangular dormers. The interior boasts a fine decorative scheme.

On the south (rear) elevation, the building has coursed squared and snecked sandstone with some ashlar margins. There are later additions projecting into the garden at the ground floor, and the fenestration is irregular, including some tripartite windows.

Inside, the ornate classical interior features a large entrance hall with a cantilevered dog-leg stair leading to the rear. The main rooms are located at the front and left on the first, second, and third floors, showcasing detailed plasterwork and deep cornices throughout. There is ornate strapwork in the cupolas, with a maritime theme in No. 17. The doorpieces are highly detailed, pilastered, and pedimented. Some timber panelling and timber rails and balusters are present on the main stair, along with speaking tubes and a bellboard in No. 17. Later alterations mainly affected the basements and the second and third floors, resulting in lowered ceilings and some partitions.

The windows are timber sash and case with plate glass. The roof is a double pitch M-section, featuring corniced ashlar ridge stacks with modern clay cans. The basement recess to the street is edged with cast-iron railings, and there are cast-iron rainwater goods.