Description

John Tait, circa 1830-1840, with later alterations. 3-storey over basement, attic dormers added later, 21-bay, palace-fronted town house terrace comprising recessed central block of 5, 3-bay houses, with further 3-bay, balustraded houses to each end, forming SE side of Rutland Square. Droved sandstone ashlar at basement; polished (some groups stone-cleaned) sandstone ashlar above with polished dressings; coursed stugged sandstone to sides. Band course between basement and ground floors, and between ground and 1st floors; Saltire-cross cast-iron balcony to each 3-bay group at 1st floor; cill course at 2nd floor; cornice above; wide, 3-light box dormer to No 9; box dormer to No 11. Moulded architraves to windows; cornices to 1st floor windows in advanced 3-bay flanking groups; fluted Ionic columns to corniced porches over doors; ashlar steps and entrance platts oversailing basement.

NW (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: Regularly disposed, deep-set timber panelled door with large rectangular fanlight (4-pane lying-pane to No 11) in doorway at left of each 3-bay block at ground floor; door beneath oversailing stair at basement; windows to all remaining bays to ground floor and basement (except Nos 5 and 6, segmental-arched doorway with 3-pane segmental fanlight in bay to right of door at basement); regular fenestration to upper floors.

NE ELEVATION: architraved and corniced doorpiece (doorway blocked apart form rectangular fanlight) offset to left of centre at ground floor; centred window at each floor above; small window at each floor to left; window (blocked) at 1st and 2nd floors to outer left.

SW ELEVATION: centred architraved door, converted to window at ground floor; 2 evenly disposed windows at 1st floor; centred window at 2nd floor; 3 evenly disposed attic windows above; 2 truncated former multi-flue wallhead stacks above.

SE ELEVATION: not seen 2000.

2 and 12-pane timber sash and case windows. Grey slate roof; coped skews. Coped and repaired ashlar wallhead stacks to NE (with many original moulded octagonal cans) and SW. Cast-iron rainwater goods.

INTERIORS: not seen 2000.

RAILINGS AND LAMP STANDARDS: spear-headed (plain flanking steps to doors) cast-iron railings, mounted on ashlar copes; pine cone terminals (many missing) to flanking shafts to basement steps; cast-iron railing-mounted lamps with glass globes at right of steps to each 3-bay group.

Statement of Interest

Part of the Edinburgh New Town A-Group, a significant surviving part of one of the most important and best preserved examples of urban planning in Britain. Archibald Elliot planned the Rutland Square/Street scheme in 1819 for James Stuart. John Learmonth bought the ground in 1825 and developed it from 1830. John Tait, his Architect, worked to Elliot's plans and took up the giant Corinthian pilaster motif at the entrance to the square (1 Rutland Square/28 Rutland Street and 32 Rutland Square/27 Rutland Street, listed separately). This part of the square, along with its mirror-image to the NW (Nos 23-29, virtually identically arranged - see separate list description), appears on the 1840 PO Directory map and is also foretold by Thos Brown's 1823 map, which includes proposed as well as existing buildings. While Rutland Street has not survived entirely as intended, Rutland Square, on the other hand, remains elegantly intact as an important survival of early 19th century planning in Edinburgh.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17567964

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

• 
  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cornwall (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability
• 
  Somerset: South and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  [(Shropshire)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1958)