20 Thistle Street, 18, Edinburgh

This building, located at 84, 86, 88, and 90 Hanover Street in Edinburgh, dates from 1784 to 1790, with an early 19th century shopfront and a rear extension added in 1975 by Covell Matthews Partnership. It is a three-storey structure built on a raised basement and attic, originally designed as a classical tenement on a corner site that features shops at the ground level. The exterior is constructed of droved cream sandstone ashlar with polished dressings, while the gable is made of rubble. The corner is accentuated with long and short quoins.

The Hanover Street elevation consists of five bays, with a pilastraded six-bay shop at the ground level, which was formerly two shops (the door to the outer left has been blocked and converted into a window). Above this is a basement restaurant, and there are five piend-roofed dormers similar to those on the adjoining block.

On the Thistle Street elevation, there is an irregular three-bay gable with a single bay wing that contains a pilastraded shop at the ground level, along with three additional modern bays to the left.

The windows are timber sash and case with 12 panes. The building features ashlar coped skews, a reduced rubble stack on the gable, and a rebuilt stone stack to the south.

The interior was not seen in 1995, and the upper floors are connected to a modern block to the north, which is listed separately. Plain cast-iron railings lead to the steps and basement.