Youth Hostel, 1 Old Edinburgh Road, Inverness

Joseph Mitchell, circa 1835. 2-storey and basement, 5-bay villa with Jacobean detailing. Painted harled with painted margins. Raised basement; base course; chamfered reveals; strip quoins; stone finials to apex of gables to W.

S (OLD EDINBURGH ROAD) ELEVATION: asymmetrical; gabled bay advanced to left, 2 windows to principal floor; flat-roofed porch to re-entrant angle to right, gableted doorway to left, tripartite openings to right infilled with vertical timber weather boarding; gableted bay to centre of 1st floor behind, window to right return; gabled bay set back to right.

W (GORDON TERRACE) ELEVATION: asymmetrical; flat-roofed 20th century addition to basement floor; bipartite window to principal floor of centre bay, gableted window breaking eaves to 1st floor above; narrow bay flanking to left, single window with geometric tracery to principal floor, gabled window breaking eaves above; advanced gabled bay flanking to right, 5-light canted window to principal floor rising to rectangular-plan 5-light window at 1st floor, plaque set in gablehead; recessed bay to outer right, bipartite windows to basement and principal floors, gableted window breaking eaves to 1st floor; gabled bay to outer left, shallow rectangular-plan tripartite window with cusped tracery and leaded diamond-pane glazing to principal floor, single window to 1st floor above.

N AND E ELEVATIONS: not seen 2000. Flat roofed 20th century addition in re-entrant angle. Metal fire escape stair.

Predominantly 2-pane timber sash and case windows to first floor; Mixture of modern windows elsewhere.. West Highland slate roof with lead/zinc ridges. Coped skews with moulded skewputts; corbelled gablehead stacks and ridge stacks with circular and octagonal cans. Cast-iron rainwater goods.

INTERIOR: not seen 2000.

GATEWAYS, GATEPIERS AND BOUNDARY WALLS: harled and coped terrace walls to S; high ashlar coped rubble walls to remainder; gabled Tudor-arched sandstone ashlar gateway to E, with hoodmould and decorative label stops, shield set in gablehead; Tudor-arched pedestrian gateway to centre of S wall with ashlar dressings; square-plan gatepiers to SW with steps leading to terrace; decorative shouldered pedestrian gateway to W wall with chamfered reveals and stone step.