23 Royal Terrace, Edinburgh

23 Royal Terrace, Edinburgh

William Playfair designed this townhouse between 1820 and 1824, with No. 23 built between 1823 and the early 1830s. It forms part of an extremely long 121-bay palace front terrace. The terrace features an arched and rusticated ground floor, with a central 3-storey section punctuated by three 3-storey and attic Corinthian colonnaded pavilions. Flanking sections to left and right comprise 3-storey balustraded sections leading to 3-storey sections with 3-storey and attic Ionic colonnaded pavilions, with 2-storey balustraded sections to the outer left and right. All houses have basements.

The principal elevation uses painted droved ashlar to the basement, V-chamfered rustication to the ground floor, and polished ashlar to the upper floors. The rear elevation is predominantly coursed squared rubble with dressed margins. The principal elevation features a base course, dividing bands between basement and ground floor, and between ground and first floors. The first floor has narrow band courses broken by windows to each bay, band courses above the second floor, an eaves cornice, and a balustraded parapet. Fenestration is regular throughout, with round-headed openings in round-headed overarches at ground floor level.

The principal (north) elevation presents a 3-bay, 3-storey and basement front. The basement contains a window in a segmentally-headed opening to the right bay; the centre bay has a timber and glazed door with segmental fanlight (now fitted with a grille); the left wall contains a window and door blocking an area under the platt. The ground floor features, to the left bay, steps and platt overarching the basement recess, leading to a timber-panelled door with flanking margin lights and segmental fanlight. Cast-iron balconnettes ornament the first-floor windows.

The rear (south) elevation is a 2-bay, 3-storey and basement elevation with band course dividing the ground and first floors, an eaves cornice, and a blocking course.

Glazing is predominantly plate glass, with 12-pane glazing to the rear elevation and basement front elevation, and 15-pane glazing to the first floor of the rear elevation. Windows are predominantly timber sash and case. The M-roof has central valleys and is covered with graded grey slate with stone skews and skewputts.

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

The interior is subdivided into flats. The ground floor lobby has an encaustic tiled floor and compartmented ceiling with good plasterwork, and a pilastered and corniced doorpiece leading to the stair hall, which also has an encaustic tiled floor. The first floor flat features a corniced doorpiece to the rear of the front door, and an L-shaped former drawing room with good plasterwork (the ceiling rose is not original) and a good marble chimneypiece. The stairs and landings contain good plasterwork, an oval cupola, and cast-iron balusters. A cast-iron tray rest adorns the first floor landing. Wrought-iron lamp brackets are fitted to the first and second floor landings. Anaglypta-type wallcovering covers the lower section of the wall to the stairs and landings.