A truly special brew
Ex-malthouse blends old and new to great effect, finds Paul Drury
Carlsberg don’t do flats. but if they did... This twobedroom apartment, located within a b-listed former brewery in the heart of edinburgh’s Old Town, is the best bar none.
For centuries, the capital has been a hive of brewing activity, the particular hoppy aroma giving edinburgh its unique nasal identity.
It is a smell that has long since vanished from the former gordon & blair’s balmoral brewery on Calton road, which runs parallel to the royal Mile.
No beer has been brewed in this building since the early 1960s, when it was taken over by the giant Watney Mann empire and promptly shut down.
economics, as ever, took control of the building, including its distinctive pagoda-like roof, which once acted as the vent for the brewery’s malting house.
Initially it served as a cash and carry and then a furniture store in the 1960s, before it fell into the hands of developers during the late 1980s.
They sympathetically converted the balmoral into 12 apartments, retaining the external accessories to act as a constant reminder of its industrial past.
It was this heritage which appealed to gary scott when he bought his first-floor apartment a little over two years ago.
The 46-year-old hospitality professional said: ‘I liked the fact it was a historic building. There are not too many apartment blocks like it in the city.’
You are left in no doubt as to the building’s provenance in the flat’s spacious living/dining area, where a pair of cast-iron columns, deliciously left unpainted, support the ceiling beam.
The ‘retro’ look is continued in the kitchen, where the cabinetry is framed by bespoke reclaimed oak worktops and white subway tiles. a belfast sink completes the post-industrial chic.
It’s from the kitchen that you access a small, shared, courtyard that would not look out of place in a spanish hacienda.
bedrooms sit at either end of the living/dining room, the master coming with lavish en suite shower room. The other, a double or twin, makes best use of the space by offering a large built-in wardrobe.
The property has gas central heating and the original casement windows have been restored and draught-proofed for optimum comfort and energy efficiency.
bearing in mind the building’s history, it should be mandatory for the new owner to organise a flat-warming party. but being a brewery, you might be tempted to call the gathering something else.
Offers over £335,000 to VMH Solicitors property team. Tel 0131 622 2626 or email enquiries@vmh. co.uk.