A chapter in history
Townhouse was once a neighbour to Sir Walter Scott, writes Paul Drury
SCOTLAND’S capital boasts many fine homes, but only a few allow you to walk in the footsteps of legends. Two hundred years ago, someone living in this property would be able to count novelist and poet Sir Walter Scott as a neighbour.
Living at 52 North Castle Street in Edinburgh’s New Town in those days would have put you on nodding terms with the writer at Number 39, who wrote such classics as Ivanhoe, Waverley and The Lady of the Lake.
This brief history lesson helps convey just how long this street has been part of the city, named for its views of the castle.
Sir Walter lived here between 1802 and 1826 but the building was constructed between 1792 and 1794, and Number 52 could scarcely have appeared as fresh then as it does today.
Estate agents tend to wax lyrical about the properties on their books, and Ben Fox of Savills is clearly delighted with this threestorey townhouse.
He said: ‘Surely one of the most desirable houses to launch on the market this year, 52 North Castle Street has received the best possible care and attention from its owners, who have judged beautifully the balance between historic integrity and modern living.
‘Georgian splendour has been allowed to shine with a bold 21st century sensibility, creating a fantastic family home, rich in space and character. It is a triumph.’
Of course, it does help that one of the owners is interior designer Lisa Guest. The grand Georgian dimensions served as a classical template for her creativity, so a top-to-toe refurbishment has resulted in sleek accommodation, true to its roots but draped in some of the finest wallpapers and paint finishes.
Fashionable Farrow & Ball colours are much in evidence but Miss Guest also sourced attractive options from the catalogues of Paint & Paper Library and Little Greene. She said: ‘It’s very important to keep the general aesthetic and floorplan laid out by the architecture.
‘But it’s equally important to add modern elements to keep things fresh. No one wants to live in a time capsule.’
There are magnificent architraves throughout, ornate plasterwork, flagstone floors and a stone stair with wrought iron balustrades. The drawing room and dining room are at the front of the property, with the comfortable sitting room and kitchen at the back. The lower ground floor has a bedroom with French windows onto the west-facing patio. The upper floor has four double bedrooms, one of which has been turned into a dressing room by design studio Peden & Pringle. Lucky guests get to stay in a self-contained main door flat in the basement. Now they didn’t have Airbnb in Sir Walter’s day. Offers over £2.1million to Ben Fox of Savills. Call 0131 247 3736 or email bfox@savills.com.