Description

R H Watherston and A Craig, 1898-1904; later additions to rear. Crescented terrace comprising unified façade of 3-storey and basement, 2 and 3-bay townhouses in plain classical style with main-door and common stair flats behind. Later additional corniced ashlar storey to No. 9. Basement area to street including some vaulted cellars and retaining walls. Sandstone ashlar; entrance platts oversailing basements. Banded base course; corniced eaves course. Corniced doorpieces with moulded architrave and rectangular fanlights. Corniced bipartite windows to additional bays at ground and 1st floors, with moulded cills and architraves. Corniced and moulded 2-storey, 3-light canted bays at ground and 1st floors. Architraved and corniced 1st floor windows. No margins to windows at 2nd floor (some windows bipartite).

Plate glass in timber sash and case windows. Double pitch M-section roof. Corniced ashlar ridge and gable end stacks with modern clay cans. Cast-iron railings on ashlar coping stone edging basement recess to street. Cast-iron rainwater goods.

Statement of Interest

Plain classical townhouses completing the wider scheme for the West End and providing good streetscape. The regular canted bays provide particularly good rhythm to the crescented street. The Watherston practice are likely to have built the terrace a single house at a time, resulting in the continuity of the street being broken. It is likely that they were also working to the outline designs from the Walker Estate and drew up the exact elevations themselves, perhaps with the input of clients. This more informal approach to the feu plans for the Walker Estate is in sharp contrast to the earlier parts of the scheme which were built to strict elevational plans and maintained a rigorous symmetry.

The Watherston's practice built large parts of Edinburgh's West End speculatively, often conforming to the plans of the Walker and Heriot Trusts. The practice functioned as both architects and builders, and as well as their work in Edinburgh the firm also did country house work in the same way. The Watherston office was also responsible for the design of Nos. 17 and 18 Rothesay Place (see separate listings) which illustrates the variety of sources which they drew upon in their designs.

The terrace was converted by Ron Galloway Architects to 53 serviced flats in 1995 for the Walker Group Scotland Ltd. (2008).

(List description revised 2009 as part of re-survey.)

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17806463

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.

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