17 Promenade, Portobello, Edinburgh

17 Promenade in Portobello, Edinburgh, is a group of three terraced houses built in the later 18th century to early 19th century, with some later alterations. This single-storey terrace, which includes a basement for Nos 16 and 17, continues the terrace of Nos 1-4 Bath Place. Each house has three bays; No 16 is L-planned, and there are additions to the rear of Nos 17 and 18. The buildings are constructed from finely droved ashlar with polished ashlar dressings, although No 18 has a sandtex coating. The basement of No 17 features vermiculated ashlar, while the northwest elevation of No 16 is harled. The rear of the houses is made of sandstone rubble, except for No 18, which has harling.

On the northeast elevation facing the promenade, each house has a door in the centre bay flanked by windows. No 16 has a raised basement with a deep-set panelled door and a plate glass rectangular fanlight above. There are coupled pilasters between each bay and flanking the outer bay, with a band course above. Original plain cast-iron handrails are present on the ashlar steps, along with an architraved doorpiece and a modern door with a plate glass rectangular fanlight above. The outer bays at basement level also have windows, while No 17 features a modern door with a three-pane rectangular fanlight above.

The southwest elevation includes a two-storey arm to the L-plan of No 16, a single-storey piended addition to No 17, and single-storey lean-to and flat-roofed additions to the outer bays of No 18.

All houses have timber sash and case windows: No 16 has 8-pane windows, No 17 has plate glass, and No 18 has 4-pane windows. No 16 features a piended canted dormer on the outer right of its northeast elevation. Each house has a grey slate roof, with No 16 having a shallower pitch and higher eaves level than its neighbours. The mutual stacks are rendered and coped, and the skews are also coped.

The interior was not seen during the last inspection in 1994. The boundary walls include harled walls to the northeast of Nos 17 and 18, with rubble dividing walls. The rear of No 16 has rubble with tufa/clinker coping, while No 17 features bull-faced render and coped rubble. The rear of No 18 is harled and coped.