Description

Circa 1775; alterations at ground including shop by Simpson & Brown, 1984-5. 3-storey basement and attic, 4-bay (3-1) former classical house. Droved cream sandstone ashlar with polished dressings; framed by panelled pilaster strips. Stonecleaned at 1st floor, with architraved and corniced windows. 3-bay shopfront to left with inset Ionic columned doorpiece (spectacle order) flanked by multi-pane windows, framed by pilasters and cornice with ball finials (Simpson & Brown). 2-bay mid 19th century shopfront to right with consoled cornice incorporates doorway to shop and upper floors and bipartite shop window. Basement shops; 3 late 19th century piend-roofed canted dormers (1 larger).

Timber sash and case plate glass windows. Ashlar coped skews; corniced rendered stacks; grey slates.

INTERIOR: Trotter?s was recast by Simpson & Brown.

RAILINGS: plain cast-iron railings with replacement lamp standards to No 44 (incorporating Trotter?s lantern).

Statement of Interest

Sydney Smith lived at No 46. The Ionic columns of No 44 have Ionic capitals designed as the conceit of a pair of spectacles resting on a nose, reflecting the occupier?s business as opticians. A Group with Nos 30-60 (even nos) George Street A as a significant surviving part of the original fabric of Edinburgh?s New Town, one of the most important and best preserved examples of urban planning in Britain.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17806716

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Farrow & Ball How to Decorate: Transform your home with paint & paper
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990: Updated version
• 
  Nottinghamshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  For the Record