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Summary

Description

James Craig, 1769; extended E by Archibald Elliot, 1819; NE wing Peddie & Kinnear, 1865; restored by Ben Tindall Architects, 1989. Symmetrical 3-storey and basement classical former house on corner site with forecourt of Dundas House. Polished cream sandstone ashlar (stonecleaned). Channelled basement, giant Ionic order to ground and 1st floors; entablature with fluted frieze, rosettes and dentilled cornice; full ashlar attic storey articulated by piers with ball finials at corners.

W (ST ANDREW SQUARE) ELEVATION: 5-bay. 3 central bays with attached columns, projecting entablature and urns to attic piers. Lowered 2-leaf panelled door with plate glass fanlight at centre.

E ELEVATION: 6-bay; 3 later right bays set back slightly. Wallhead stack.

Timber sash and case windows; 15-pane, 12-pane, 9-pane, 4-pane and plate glass, but consistent within floors and elevations. Piended roof with gable to N; concrete coped skews; grey slates; flagpole.

INTERIOR: mostly of 1819. 3-bay double height columnar screen (Corinthian above Ionic) to imperial stair with tromp l?oeil landscapes of the Forth valley framed by modern pilasters; lit by oculus of ribbed dome on wreathed pendentives; resited doorcase to landing. Front room at 1st floor with Doric frieze (18th century?) and Ionic marble chimneypiece.

LAMP STANDARDS AND RAILINGS: pair of cast-iron lamp standards on ashlar piers flank entrance; simple diamond pattern cast-iron railings on ashlar footings to front.

Statement of Special Interest

Built for Andrew Crosbie of Holm, and later copied at No 36/7 (see separate listing) at Laurence Dundas?s insistence. Converted by Archibald Elliot to form the Royal Bank of Scotland?s head office, at which time he reproduced the 3 E bays and lowered the ground floor level; this necessitated largely rebuilding the interior. In 1830 it became the Douglas Hotel, and as such was further enlarged in 1865. Queen Victoria stayed here, as did Walter Scott on his last visit to Edinburgh in 1832. There are plans by Robert Adam in the Soane Collection for a different house which appears to be on this site, but Craig?s authorship is confirmed by a design for the building in his hand and its similarities to other designs by him, notably for Crawford Priory in Fife. 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.

References

Bibliography

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