Waverley House, 35 Royal Terrace, Edinburgh

Waverley House, 35 Royal Terrace, Edinburgh

William Playfair designed this building between 1820 and 1824, with construction of number 35 taking place between 1823 and the early 1830s. It forms part of an extremely long 121-bay palace-front terrace of townhouses. The terrace features an arched and rusticated ground floor with, at its centre, a 3-storey section punctuated by three 3-storey and attic Corinthian colonnaded pavilions. To the left and right are flanking 3-storey balustraded sections leading to 3-storey sections with 3-storey and attic Ionic colonnaded pavilions, with 2-storey balustraded sections at the outer edges. All houses have basements.

The principal (north) elevation employs droved ashlar to the basement and V-chamfered rustication to the ground floor, with polished ashlar to the upper floors. The rear elevation is predominantly coursed squared rubble with dressed margins. The principal elevation is articulated with a base course, dividing band between basement and ground floor, impost course to the ground floor, dividing band between ground and first floors, narrow band course to the first floor broken by a window in each bay, band courses above the second floor, an eaves cornice, and balustraded parapet. Fenestration is regular throughout, with predominantly regular fenestration to the rear elevation. The front elevation features round-headed openings in round-headed overarches to the ground floor, and panelled aprons to the first-floor windows.

The north (principal) elevation of number 35 comprises a 4-bay, 3-storey elevation with basement and attic. To the basement, windows appear in the 1st, 3rd and 4th bays from the left; the 2nd bay from the left contains a timber and glazed door with a blocked fanlight in a segmentally-headed opening. The ground floor features, in the 2nd bay from the left, steps and a platt overarching the basement recess leading to a recessed timber-panelled and glazed door with a segmental fanlight with petal-style glazing. Cast-iron balconnettes ornament the windows to the first and second floors. To the roof sits a pilastered timber dormer with 4 bipartite windows.

The south (rear) elevation is a 3-bay elevation with band courses dividing the ground and first floors and dividing the second and attic floors, with eaves cornices. The centre bay features an advanced 3-storey extension with a part-ogee leaded roof and a further advanced section to the ground floor. Fenestration is predominantly bipartite and tripartite.

Glazing is predominantly plate glass, except to the principal elevation where the basement retains 12-pane glazing. Windows are predominantly timber sash and case. The roof is M-shaped with central valleys and graded grey slate, with stone skews and skewputts. To the west sits a mutual ridge stack with some octagonal flues to the front elevation; to the east a mutual corniced ashlar ridge stack with predominantly circular cans.

The front railings edge the basement recess and platt with stone coping surmounted by cast-iron railings featuring dog bars, spear-head finials and a distinctive circled border. A wrought-iron lamp standard stands to the right of the platt. The rear boundary is formed by a random rubble wall with flat coping, enclosing the garden.

The building is now subdivided into flats. The ground-floor lobby features an inlaid marble floor, timber panelling to the walls, and a timber and marble chimneypiece beneath a compartmented ceiling with excellent plasterwork. To the left, leading to the basement, stands an ornamental timber and glazed door with a wrought-iron embellished fanlight in a round-arched opening with a pilastered doorpiece. To the right, leading to the inner hall, a timber-panelled and glazed door and screen with an umbrella fanlight is set in a basket-arched opening with coffered soffit, niches to either side, and a pilastered doorpiece. The former dining room retains excellent plasterwork to the ceiling and a classical stone chimneypiece; the remainder of the ground floor has been altered, though some good later cornicing remains in the kitchen.

The first floor contains a former drawing room with a grey marble chimneypiece, excellent plasterwork including an Adam-style ceiling, and panels and plaques to the walls. The front room (east) retains good plasterwork, whilst the rear rooms are much altered. The stairs and landing feature cantilevered stone stairs with probably later timber balusters and newels, and a wrought-iron lamp bracket to the first-floor landing. A round-arched pilastered doorpiece marks the second-floor landing. Above the stairwell rises a round cupola set in a coffered dome, surrounded by excellent plasterwork including swags and a classical frieze below the dome and bordered panels to the stair and landing walls.