5 West Coates, Edinburgh

5 West Coates is a large Jacobean villa built in the mid-19th century. It is two stories high and has four bays, constructed from coursed, polished sandstone ashlar with polished dressings. The villa features bracketed, corniced balconies with strapwork above the first-floor windows, a cill course at the first floor, and a cornice. The windows have margins, and the gabled bay includes skews, skew-putts, and a tabernacle forming a finial.

On the south (front) elevation, there is an advanced two-bay gabled bay on the right with a window in each bay on both the ground and first floors. Above, there is a continuous bracketed balcony and cornices with carved emblems above the first-floor windows. The gable has kneelers. To the left, there is a recessed two-bay block with an advanced single-storey entrance porch on the ground floor to the right. The entrance features a margin-framed panelled timber door with a frieze and cornice above, topped by an elaborate carved strapwork emblem. A balcony is formed above the porch, and there is a single window with a triangular pediment on the first floor, along with another window at ground level to the outer left, which has a balcony above it with a triangular gable.

The east (side) elevation is symmetrical with three bays. There is a single window in the left and right bays on both the ground and first floors, although the first-floor window on the left is blocked. Each of these first-floor windows has a triangular pediment, and there is a chimney-breast in the centre, forming a square-section wallhead stack at the roof.

A modern gabled single-storey addition is located at the west, built from coursed sandstone ashlar with skews and featuring a centred bipartite window.

The villa has 2-pane timber sash and case windows, a grey slate roof, and corniced wall- and gablehead stacks with a mix of tall and short square-sectioned, corniced cans, set diagonally. The painted cast-iron rainwater goods add to its character.

Surrounding the property are boundary walls, an obelisk, and gate piers. The tall boundary wall is made of squared and snecked sandstone rubble with saddleback coping along Wester Coates Road to the east. There is a low, coursed sandstone boundary wall at the front, which includes an obelisk and square-plan corniced gate piers topped with small, capped obelisks.