40-42 York Place, Edinburgh

40-42 York Place is a classical terraced house built in the later 18th century. It has three storeys, an attic, and a basement, with a five-bay façade. The exterior is made of broached ashlar sandstone, featuring V-jointed rustication at the principal floor and rock-faced rustication at the basement. The building has a base course, band courses between the basement and principal floor, as well as between the principal and first floors. There are cill courses at the first and second floors, and a dentilled cornice with a blocking course at the second floor. Ashlar steps and entrance platts extend over the basement.

On the south (principal) elevation, there is a round-arched doorway at the centre of the principal floor, which includes a nine-panel timber door with a radial semicircular fanlight. The remaining bays on this floor have windows, while the floors above and the basement feature regular fenestration. The basement area is flagged.

The west elevation adjoins another terrace, which is listed separately (38 and 38A York Place).

The east elevation, facing York Lane, has a three-bay gable with the left half slightly advanced. This side is predominantly made of stugged and squared rubble, with broached ashlar at the first floor and long and short quoins. There is a forestair with an ashlar-parapetted landing leading from York Place to a panelled timber door with a three-pane rectangular fanlight, located to the left of centre between the principal and first floors. A bipartite window is situated to the right of centre, with additional windows on either side between the first and second floors. The second floor features round-arched windows to the left of centre and a window to the right of centre, along with a window at the outer left in the attic.

The north (rear) elevation was not visible in 1998.

The building predominantly features 12-pane timber sash and case windows and has a grey slate M-roof with a pair of slate-hung box dormers. It includes cast-iron rainwater goods, broached ashlar ridge and gablehead stacks that are coped with circular cans, and coped skews.

The interiors were not seen in 1998.

The boundary wall is made of random and coursed rubble, coped, and steps down to the north, topped with a forestair parapet on the left. To the right, there is an infilled pedestrian wall with a modern vertically-boarded timber door in the pedestrian gate, which has a concrete lintel. Additionally, there are a pair of modern garage doors with a concrete lintel on the outer right.