26 Royal Terrace, Edinburgh

William Playfair, designed 1820-4. No 26 built between 1823 and early 1830s. Part of extremely long 121-bay palace front terrace of townhouses with arched and rusticated ground floor; to centre, 3-storey section punctuated by three 3-storey and attic Corinthian colonnaded pavilions; to left and right flanking 3-storey balustraded sections leading to 3-storey sections with 3-storey and attic Ionic colonnaded pavilions; 2-storey balustraded sections to outer left and right; basements to all houses. Droved ashlar to basement; V-chamfered rustication to ground floor; polished ashlar to upper floors; predominantly coursed squared rubble with dressed margins to rear elevation. To principal elevation: base course; dividing band between basement and ground floor; impost course to ground floor; dividing band between ground and 1st floors; to 1st floor, narrow band course broken by window to each bay. Regular fenestration to principal elevation; predominantly regular fenestration to rear elevation; to ground floor, round-headed openings in round-headed overarches.

N (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: 3-bay, 3-storey, basement and attic elevation. To basement, segmentally-headed window to left; timber-panelled door with sunburst segmental fanlight to centre; to right, area under platt blocked by wall with window and timber-panelled and glazed door. To ground floor, to right bay, steps and platt overarching basement recess leading to timber-panelled door with flanking margin lights and segmental sunburst fanlight. To 1st floor, cast-iron balconnettes to windows; giant attached Corinthian columns dividing bays, supporting entablature between 2nd and attic floors; pilasters dividing bays to attic floor; eaves cornice; blocking course.

S (REAR) ELEVATION: 2-bay, 3-storey, basement and attic elevation. Band course dividing ground and 1st floors; cornice and band course dividing 2nd and attic floors; eaves cornice.

GLAZING etc: predominantly 12-pane glazing; 17-pane glazing to ground floor and 15-pane glazing to 1st floor to principal elevation; glazing predominantly in timber sash and case windows. M-pitched roof with central valley; graded grey slate; stone skews and skewputts. To W, gable-head stack; to E, mutual corniced ridge stack; predominantly circular cans.

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 wall with flat coping.

INTERIOR: to ground floor: to lobby, good plaster work, compartmented ceiling, cast-iron chimneypiece, leading to inner hall, modern 2-leaf glazed door with pilastered and corniced doorpiece; to former dining room, good ornate plasterwork, 1 pilastered and corniced doorpiece; timber panelling to lower walls, non-original timber chimneypiece, tiled cheeks to hearth (same tiles as at No 27; possibly original); remainder of ground floor much altered.