13 Carlton Terrace, Edinburgh

William Playfair, designed 1821-1825, built from late 1820s-mid 1830s. Part of long hairpin-curved terrace of 19 classical town houses; Nos 1-4 and 14-19, rectangular-plan houses with straight 3-bay front elevations; Nos 5-13, wedge-plan houses with curved 4-bay front elevations; predominantly 2-storey and basement with balustraded parapet; panelled parapets to Nos 1, 14 and 17. Droved ashlar to basements; polished ashlar to upper floors; predominantly coursed squared rubble with droved margins to side and rear elevations. Base course to basements; dividing band between basement and ground floors and ground and 1st floors; modillioned eaves cornice to front elevations, eaves band to rear elevations. Raised door surrounds with consoled cornices. Regular fenestration; architraved and corniced windows with panelled aprons to ground floor; architraved windows with cast-iron balconnettes to 1st floor.

N (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: to basement, timber-panelled door beneath platt, windows to remaining bays. To ground floor, to 2nd bay from left, steps and platt overarching basement recess leading to 2-leaf timber-panelled door with rectangular fanlight. To roof, behind balustrade, 2 canted dormer windows.

S (REAR) ELEVATION: 2-bay elevation.

GLAZING etc: predominantly plate glass to front; 12-pane glazing to rear and to basement to front elevation; glazing predominantly in timber sash and case windows. Double-pitched roof with central valley; graded grey slate to pitched and mansard sections; stone skews and skewputts. To front, mutual ashlar stack preceded by 2 octagonal flues to left, mutual rendered to stack to right; to rear, rendered mutual stacks to left and right; all stacks corniced with predominantly circular cans. Some cast-iron rainwater goods.

RAILINGS AND BOUNDARY WALLS: to front, edging basement recess and platt, stone coping surmounted by cast-iron railings with dog bars, spear-head finials and distinctive circled border. To rear, forming boundary of garden, random rubble walls with predominantly flat coping.

INTERIOR: to ground floor: to lobby, encaustic tiled floor, corniced and pilastered doorpiece, plaster bas-relief to wall, good plasterwork. To 1st floor: to former drawing room, good plasterwork, classical bas-relief plaque; to rear room (W), apsidal ended room, veined marble classical chimneypiece, good plasterwork including ceiling rose, 2 classical plaster bas-relief to walls. To stair and stair hall: oval cupola with plaster rose motifs to corners of ceiling; stone stairs with cast-iron balusters; cast-iron tray rest to 1st floor; good plasterwork to ceiling, landings and ground floor.