5 Carlton Terrace, Edinburgh

5 Carlton Terrace, Edinburgh

William Playfair designed this building between 1821 and 1825, with construction taking place from the late 1820s to the mid-1830s. It forms part of a long hairpin-curved terrace of 19 classical town houses. Whilst Nos 1-4 and 14-19 have rectangular plans with straight 3-bay front elevations, Nos 5-13, including No 5, are wedge-plan houses with curved 4-bay front elevations.

The building is predominantly two storeys with basement, topped by a balustraded parapet. Droved ashlar forms the basement elevations, with polished ashlar used to the upper floors. The side and rear elevations are predominantly coursed squared rubble with droved margins. A base course runs along the basement, with dividing bands between the basement and ground floors and between the ground and first floors. The front elevations feature a modillioned eaves cornice, whilst the rear elevations have an eaves band. Raised door surrounds with consoled cornices mark the principal entrance points. The fenestration is regular throughout, with architraved and corniced windows with panelled aprons to the ground floor, and architraved windows with cast-iron balconnettes to the first floor.

The south-east principal elevation comprises four bays. At basement level, beneath the platt, sits a timber-panelled door with a 3-light fanlight in a segmental opening, with windows to the remaining bays. At ground floor level, in the second bay from the left, the platt overarches the basement recess and leads to a 2-leaf timber-panelled and glazed door with a triple-circle glazed fanlight. Above the modillioned cornice sits an attic storey, a later addition, featuring a lintel course and eaves cornice. The north-west rear elevation consists of two bays.

Glazing is predominantly plate glass, with 12-pane glazing to the basement of the principal elevation. The sash and case windows retain their timber glazing. The roof is predominantly flat with a slated pitch to the rear. Between No 5 and No 6 stands a mutual ashlar wallhead stack with a canted front and corniced circular cans.

The front railings edge the basement recess and platt, comprising stone coping surmounted by cast-iron railings with dog bars, spear-head finials and a distinctive circled border. A wrought-iron lamp standard stands to the left of the platt. To the rear, random rubble walls forming the boundary of the garden have predominantly flat coping.

The interior of the ground floor features a lobby with a compartmented ceiling incorporating relief-patterned caissons and good plasterwork. A pilastered arch leads to the stair hall, with a wide pilastered arched opening to the left serving a room containing a classical grey marble chimneypiece. The former dining room has a corniced and pilastered doorpiece, timber wall panelling to dado height, a large pilastered timber chimneypiece, and a deep cavetto cornice with shallow relief patterning. The ceiling displays strapwork style plasterwork. The rear room to the north-west features a good plaster cornice with a shallow-relief frieze beneath.

The first floor contains a front room to the south-east with a classical stone chimneypiece (now with modern marble paint effect) and good plasterwork. The former drawing room has corniced and pilastered doorpieces, a non-original timber chimneypiece, and good plasterwork cornice, with modern Adam-style plasterwork to the ceiling. The rear room to the north-east has a shallow-relief frieze beneath a plain cornice.

The second floor rear room to the north-east features a painted pilastered classical stone chimneypiece, good plasterwork, a deep cavetto cornice, and a rectangular cupola. The stair and stair hall contain a square cupola with cavetto cornice positioned above the stair. The stairs themselves comprise stone treads with timber newels, balusters and strings. The landings feature a mixture of raking pedimented doorpieces, segmentally pedimented doorpieces, and pilastered segmentally-arched openings.