KEYS TO KNOW

A smart city front and a Stockbridge garden adds up to a wonderful family home, finds Kirsty Mcluckie

The lower apartment at 76B Great King Street looks every inch the townhouse basement flat from the front.

However, the property offers more than meets the eye and it was a combination of features and location that attracted current owners Madeleine Kemna and Ton Christiaanse.

The couple are Dutch and originally moved to Edinburgh with Ton’s job, but soon fell in love with the city and decided to put down permanent roots three years ago by buying a home.

They have a son, Max who is 14 and so were looking at the proximity of good schools when they came upon the apartment at 76B.

Madeleine says: “In terms of location it is really part of two neighbourhoods, because it is one of the few properties in the New Town which has an entrance both at the back and the front.

“If you go out the front you are in the city centre, close to George Street and all the city amenities, but if you go out the back you are in St Stephen’s Street, which is Stockbridge with its village atmosphere, so that is what really liked about it.”

The house has its own walled garden at the back that leads out to a private garage. Although it is not unique, it is a real luxury for a city flat and has been converted from stabling built to serve the townhouse at the beginning of the nineteenth century.

Madeleine says: “Having our own garage and our own garden really sold it to us.”

Both she and Ton now work mostly as consultants with Scottish companies and charities and Madeleine mainly works from home, so the layout of 76B was perfect.

From Great King Street the front door is accessed down steps to a large sunny terrace with under pavement cellars. On the ground floor is a bright, spacious sitting room with a gas fireplace and period features including working shutters. The master bedroom, with its ensuite shower room is at this level, plus two further good sized bedrooms, a contemporary family bathroom and plenty of storage space.

At garden level, there is a modern fitted dining kitchen with double patio doors to the garden and a study or guest bedroom with its own direct access to the outside, plus a utility room with loo, a store and a wine cellar.

Madeleine says: “The downstairs office, with its own access to the garden has been another plus. Working from home, it’s my favourite room, next to the garden so I can have the door open in the summer. If people needed to come in for meetings it means that they can enter through the garden and they don’t need to come through the house.

“I can carry on working without disturbing anyone else.”

She says that when they took over, the interior of the house needed little work. “We liked what the previous owners had done with it, so we didn’t need to do a lot in terms of redecorating.

“We painted throughout, people are always surprised that a basement flat can be so bright and we put in new appliances such as a new Worcester boiler, a fridge freezer and dishwasher.”

They created a wine cellar off the utility room by adding an insulated door and have really enjoyed the luxury of wine at exactly the right temperature.

They have also made their mark on the outside space. Madeleine says: “In terms of gardening, I’m afraid Ton doesn’t have green fingers so the work was carried out by me with the help of a gardener. We did a lot of landscaping, the garden was very compartmentalised, with raised beds, and so for Max and for our dog, we wanted it to be a bit more open so we turned it back to lawn.”

The family dog, Freya, is a beautiful Hungarian Vizsla who has enjoyed all the luxuries of the flat that seems more like a house too.

Madeleine says: “It is an ideal home for having a dog, if she has dirty feet she can come through the garden and straight into the kitchen.

“There are so many places to take her on the doorstep, for walks to Inverleith Park or along the Water of Leith and we also have access to Queen Street Gardens.”

Freya’s favourite spot is the sunny terrace at the front. Madeleine says: “It is a lovely place to sit for morning coffee before I start work and Freya would sit out there all day in the sunshine if I let her.” 76B Great King Street is a lower ground and garden apartment in a New Town townhouse. It has four bedrooms, a sitting room, dining kitchen with utility and two bathrooms. The kitchen has access to a spacious walled garden, while at the front is a sunny below pavement level patio. The house has a single garage and cellars.