51 Melville Street, Edinburgh

55 Melville Street in Edinburgh is a classical terrace building designed by Robert Brown in 1814 and constructed in 1825, with No. 61 added in 1860. The terrace features a unified façade of three-storey and basement, three-bay townhouses, with main-door and common stair flats located behind. A taller five-bay corner block extends to the west, returning five bays to Manor Place. The buildings have later attic additions at Nos. 55 and 61, and the basement area includes some vaulted cellars and retaining walls.

The exterior is constructed from sandstone ashlar, which is droved at the basement and vermiculated at the corner block, while the ground floor is channelled. The entrance platts oversail the basements, and there is a banded base course, as well as banded cill and string courses at the first floor. A corniced cill course is present at the second floor, which is banded at the corner block. The corniced eaves course and parapet on the corner block are balustraded at the center. The corner block features a round arched doorway with narrow sidelights and plain fanlights, along with round arched recessed surrounds to the outer bays at ground level. The first floor windows have architraved and corniced frames, with a pedimented center window in the corner block. The return elevation is similar, and there are cast-iron balconies at the first floor windows, as well as arched cast-iron lamp standards along Melville Street.

The windows predominantly consist of plate glass in timber sash and case. The building has a mansard roof covered with grey slates, and the gable end and ridge stacks are made of corniced ashlar with modern clay cans. Cast-iron railings edge the basement recess on top of ashlar coping stones.

Inside, the interior is characterized by a highly decorative classical scheme featuring detailed cornicing. The space has been converted for office and residential use in 2008.

Additionally, there are decorative cast-iron arches with lamp holders at the front, along with original cast-iron serpent lamp extinguishers attached to the railings. The first floor features cast-iron one and three-bat balconies, and there are also cast-iron rainwater goods present.