Toast of the New Town
Enjoy opulent living in this charming garden flat, writes Paul Drury
The area in which you will find Scotland’s most expensive real estate was so unpopular when it was being planned that a £20 ‘bounty’ had to be offered before a builder would get involved in the development.
edinburgh’s city fathers had identified an exposed site to the north where they hoped they could relieve the chronic overcrowding which had beset the capital.
But there was criticism of the chosen spot, so a financial inducement was offered to the first builder to break ground – John Young, whose Thistle Court was the first part of what became known as edinburgh’s New Town.
Some 250 years later, Auld Reekie’s collection of elegant town houses and parkland is now a Unesco World heritage Site and revered as a masterpiece of urban planning.
The New Town pioneers sold a lifestyle as much as bricks and mortar. Well-to-do citizens snapped up their own boulevards and gardens, on roads with royal names such as George Street, Queen Street, hanover Street, Frederick Street and, of course, Princes Street.
Today’s New Town residents are still considered a posh, if often eccentric, bunch. One Twitter feed pokes fun at locals’ penchant for red and yellow trews, and the urban gentlemen who wear garments that would not look out of place on TV’s Countryfile.
Now, you can join this giddy set with the purchase of a twobedroom flat in Clarence Street, in a recently refurbished, B-listed building. It can be claimed as New Town, although purists will argue it is Stockbridge. It is described as a ‘garden flat’, which means you approach the door by descending a flight of steps from street level.
The rooms are surprisingly light given this arrangement, particularly those at the rear which look out to the private garden.
This includes the sitting room, which offers French windows to the outside in the summer while boasting a lovely, austere-looking fireplace for winter nights. The hallway may be narrow but it enjoys wood panelling to head height, offering an almost baronial welcome to the flat.
This home would have been converted from a town house, and the developers have managed to retain the kind of proportions which make older flats so appealing.
The bedroom facing the street offers this sense of scale, although the one at the back may be better suited, shall we say, to the more diminutive resident.
A lovely kitchen and bathroom complete the package, meaning you have almost everything you need to blend in with the neighbours.
You will only need to add a pair of traffic-light trousers to your next shopping list.
Offers over £350,000 to Galbraith. Call 0131 240 6960 or email Edinburgh@galbraithgroup.com.