13 Carlton Terrace, Edinburgh

13 Carlton Terrace is a group value example of a significant late Georgian townhouse, designed by William Playfair and constructed between 1821 and 1825, with building continuing into the mid-1830s. It forms part of a long, hairpin-curved terrace of 19 classical townhouses. Numbers 1-4 and 14-19 have straight, three-bay frontages, whereas numbers 5-13, including number 13, have wedge-shaped plans with a curved four-bay frontage. The building is primarily two storeys high with a basement, topped by a balustraded parapet; panelled parapets are present on numbers 1, 14, and 17.

The exterior is constructed with droved ashlar to the basement, polished ashlar to the upper floors, and predominantly coursed squared rubble with droved margins to the side and rear elevations. A base course defines the basement, with dividing bands between the basement and ground floors and the ground and first floors. The front elevations feature a modillioned eaves cornice and the rear elevations an eaves band. Raised door surrounds have consoled cornices. Window detailing includes architraved and corniced windows with panelled aprons to the ground floor, and architraved windows with cast-iron balconnettes to the first floor.

The north (principal) elevation has timber-panelled doors beneath a platt, with windows to the remaining bays. Steps and a platt cover the basement recess, leading to a two-leaf timber-panelled door with a rectangular fanlight situated in the second bay from the left on the ground floor. Two canted dormer windows are set behind the balustrade at the roof level. The south (rear) elevation is a two-bay design.

The glazing is predominantly plate glass to the front, with 12-pane glazing to the rear and to the front basement windows; this is generally within timber sash and case windows. The roof is double-pitched with a central valley, covered with graded grey slate, alongside mansard sections. Stone skews and skewputts are present. Mutual ashlar stacks are located at the front, with two octagonal flues to the left and a rendered stack to the right; rendered mutual stacks are at the rear, both left and right, all corniced with predominantly circular cans. Some cast-iron rainwater goods are visible.

Stone coping, surmounted by cast-iron railings with dog bars, spear-head finials, and a distinctive circled border, edges the basement recess and platt at the front. To the rear, random rubble walls with predominantly flat coping form the boundary of the garden.

The interior features an encaustic tiled floor, a corniced and pilastered doorpiece, a plaster bas-relief to the wall, and good plasterwork to the ground floor lobby. The former drawing room on the first floor has good plasterwork and a classical bas-relief plaque. The rear room (west) is an apsidally ended room with a veined marble classical chimneypiece, good plasterwork including a ceiling rose, and two classical plaster bas-reliefs to the walls. The stair and stair hall include an oval cupola with plaster rose motifs to the ceiling corners, stone stairs with cast-iron balusters, a cast-iron tray rest on the first floor, good plasterwork to the ceiling, landings, and ground floor.