Description

John Watherston and Sons, 1890. Terrace comprising 3-storey and basement, 2-bay unified façade of gabled townhouses with plain classical detailing with maindoor and common stair flats behind. Basement area to street including some vaulted cellars and retaining walls. Set on ground falling steeply to N. Later (1933) ashlar stair with rounded copes to far right (S), leading to upper floors of No. 1. Canted 2-storey bays with dentilled cornice; balustraded with straight stone balusters, all in slightly advanced steeply gabled bays. Sandstone ashlar. Entrance platts oversailing basements. Banded base course. Corniced eaves course; moulded architraves, corniced cills. 2-leaf timber panelled doors, plain rectangular fanlights in architraved doorway with dentilled cornice and open, semi-circular, scrolled pediment above. Bipartite windows at 2nd floor above canted bays.

12- and 9-pane over plate glass in timber sash and case windows. Double pitch M-section roof; grey slates. Corniced ashlar ridge and gable end stacks; ashlar skews; modern octagonal clay cans. Cast-iron railings on ashlar coping stone edging basement recess to street. Cast-iron rainwater goods.

Statement of Interest

A good group of townhouses with plain classical and pared down Arts and Crafts style detailing characterised by steep pitched gables and glazing pattern. The terrace is terminated by Belford Church to the N (see separate listing) with which Douglas Gardens forms a good piece of streetscape. The external stair to the S was added in 1933 for Mr J G Dryburgh as part of wider works which included internal alterations to the billiard room.

The Watherston's office 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.

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

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17804327

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

• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects, Supplement 2014
• 
  Cornwall (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Period property manual, victorian house manual 2 books collection set by ian rock
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)