16 Queen Street, Edinburgh

16 Queen Street in Edinburgh is a former classical house built around 1785 and remodelled by Robert Paterson & Son in 1884. It is a three-storey building with a basement and attic, featuring a three-bay terraced design. The exterior is constructed of droved Craigleith sandstone ashlar, with later additions of cream sandstone dressings and a channelled effect at the ground level. The windows are regularly spaced and have moulded architraves.

There are steps leading to an Ionic columned doorpiece on the right, which includes a heavy entablature and parapet, along with a panelled door that does not have a fanlight. Above this door, there is a first-floor window adorned with an elaborate bracketed cornice. The left bays feature a later broad flat-roofed canted window across the basement, ground, and first floors, with panelled aprons and cornices, the latter being bracketed at the first floor. The second-floor windows are lugged and have heavy cills, and there is an eaves course. A single piend-roofed dormer and an additional garret skylight are present.

The rear elevation is constructed of rubble and features a three-bay design with a later piend-roofed canted dormer. The windows are timber sash and case, with plate glass at the front and 12-pane windows at the rear. The roof is covered with grey slates, and the end stack has been demolished.

Inside, there is a central horseshoe stair aligned with the hallway, topped by a pitched skylight. The dining room has an apsidal end and features a columnar screen with stylised acanthus capitals and a 19th-century cornice in front of the screen. It also has a dado and a swagged chimneypiece with a cherub at the centre, though it has been divided longitudinally to create a larger entrance hall. On the first floor, the drawing room has been subdivided and features a swagged chimneypiece with griffins at the centre and marble slips. The remaining rooms have plain stone chimneypieces. The second floor includes a later straight timber stair leading to the attic.

The property is also complemented by plain wrought-iron railings.