21, 23 Boswall Road, Edinburgh

21 and 23 Boswall Road is a classical villa built around 1830, notable for its fine and austere design. The building is two stories high and features three bays, with a Greek Doric portico and a lower single-bay wing to the west. The villa is linked to pavilions on both the west and east sides and has been subdivided, but the exterior remains largely unaltered. It is constructed from lightly droved ashlar sandstone and squared and coursed sandstone, with droved ashlar dressings on the sides and rear. The structure includes base and blocking courses and an eaves cornice, along with a viewing platform at the rear.

On the south (principal) elevation, there is a stone porch located in the left bay of the main block, supported by fluted Greek Doric columns, and featuring an entablature and blocking course. The entrance consists of a timber panelled door with a plate glass fanlight set in a segmental-headed opening. The windows on the lower floor of the main block are segmental-headed and have droved ashlar panelled aprons, while those in the west wing are set in a recessed panel.

The north (rear) elevation is asymmetrically arranged, showcasing a piend-roofed two-story and basement canted bay that has a decorative wrought-iron balcony at the second floor level. Modern French doors lead from the first floor to steps down to the garden. To the west, there is a taller two-stage tower featuring a French door at the first stage and an arch-headed window at the second stage, topped with a balustraded parapet that leads to the viewing platform. The lower bay to the west has single windows on the ground and first floors, set in an arch-headed recessed panel. There is also a two-story pavilion adjoining on lower ground to the east.

The villa features regular fenestration with plate glass in timber sash and case windows, except for a seven-pane arched window in the second storey of the tower on the rear elevation. The roof is covered in grey slate, with a piended roof on the canted bay and squat coped wallhead stacks with circular cans.

The boundary walls, railings, gates, and gateposts include a low ashlar wall at the front with a base course and ashlar coping. There are later decorative wrought-iron railings designed in 1913, along with gates and paired cast iron gateposts. A high rubble wall with arched coping is located to the north.