55, 57 John Street, Stromness

55 and 57 John Street in Stromness is a house dating from the late 18th to early 19th century, with later alterations. It is a two-storey building with a basement and has a symmetrical rectangular plan. The house has a gable end facing the street and is situated on a steeply rising ground to the west. The ground floor is painted cement-rendered and lined, while the upper part is harled. There is a band course between the ground and first floors, and the windows on the first and second floors have painted cement margins.

On the east elevation, which is the principal elevation, there is a single leaf, part-glazed door at the basement in the central bay, with a window in each bay at every floor flanking it. Above, there is a gablehead stack.

The south elevation, which is the entrance elevation, features a two-bay design with a steep stone flight leading to a central architraved part-glazed timber panelled door at ground level. There is a window above this door on the first floor, and a window in the outer left bay at each floor.

The north side elevation is made of harl-pointed rubble and has a window at ground level in the outer right. The building features four-pane timber sash and case windows, with fixed timber-framed shop windows at the basement. The roof is covered with grey slate and has a stone ridge, rooflights on the south pitch, concrete skews, and a harled corniced gablehead stack on the east side.

The interior was not seen during the last inspection in 1997.