20 East Road, Kirkwall

26 East Road in Kirkwall is a row of four 19th-century houses, with some later alterations and additions. The two-storey, three-bay houses are arranged symmetrically, except for Number 24, which has an asymmetrical design featuring a pitched-roof entrance porch and a two-light bay on the right. The row is built on rising ground to the east. Numbers 20 and 22 are harled, while Numbers 24 and 26 are cement-rendered and lined. The openings of Numbers 22, 24, and 26 have plain cement margins, and Number 20 has block cills.

On the south elevation, Number 20 (to the west) has a part-glazed modern door in the central bay at ground level, with a window above on the first floor. There is a window in each flanking bay on both floors. Number 22 features an architraved part-glazed timber-panelled door in the central bay at ground level, with windows in each flanking bay on both floors. Number 24 has a timber-panelled door with a letterbox fanlight in the entrance porch at ground level, a window in the left return, and a window above on the first floor. There is also a window in each flanking bay, and a two-light bay with narrow lights in each return at ground level, with a window above on the first floor. Number 26 (to the east) has a timber-panelled door with a horizontally divided letterbox fanlight in the central bay at ground level, with a window above on the first floor and a window in each flanking bay.

The houses feature 4-pane timber-framed windows with top-hung upper lights in Numbers 20 and 24, while Numbers 22 and 26 have 4-pane timber sash and case windows. The roofs are grey slate on Numbers 20 and 24, purple Welsh slate on Number 22, and traditional graded stone tiles on Number 26, with stone ridges. The gablehead and ridge stacks are harled and cement-rendered, and there are stone skews. Most of the rainwater goods are made of uPVC.

The interiors were not seen in 1998. There are low boundary walls along the southern boundary of the property. Number 20 has harl-pointed rubble walls, Number 22 is rendered, Number 24 has cement-rendered and lined walls with a stone cope and replacement cast-iron railings, and Number 26 has rendered walls with a stone cope, spear-headed cast-iron railings, and square-plan gatepiers.