KEYS TO KNOW

to work in the city or to Haymarket station for a train to Glasgow meant the Matharus had little use for a car.

The crescent is elevated so has beautiful views from the windows overlooking the communal garden in front. Residents here have a key and there is a committee which holds garden parties. Tanya says: “There is a children’s play area and in the spring, just outside our windows are the big cherry trees which we watch daily to look for the first blossoms.”

The far-reaching views extend across the city to the Firth of Forth, taking in the Pentland Hills.

During the family’s time in the property, it has been a popular place to gather to watch the fireworks during the festival or at Hogmanay. Tanya says: “Francesca got married on 30 December five years ago and

14 Eglinton Crescent, Edinburgh.

Victorian upper duplex conversion.

Five bedrooms, three public rooms, dining kitchen, study, two bathrooms.

Recently refurbished with period features throughout.

Offers over £850,000.

Contact Strutt and Parker on 0131-718 4587. we held the party the next night here and it was full of people watching fireworks on all five hills all the way round.”

Although the layout of the apartment is like that of a house, it is flexible. At present, the public rooms are all on the lower floor while upstairs are four bedrooms and a study.

Tanya says: “The rooms have been interchangeable – the upstairs is a mirror image of the downstairs. And so when it was just the family it was bedrooms upstairs and two sitting rooms, a dining room and the dining kitchen below, which was great for a gathering of adults and children, who could have their own space before all eating together in the dining room.

“But with guests, the smaller sitting room on the ground floor would become a further guest room.”

The space is impressive and you can see why a family would appreciate the ‘house’ feel in what is after all an apartment.

Tanya adds that they thought nothing of having pets, despite being two flights of stairs up. “We have a German Shepherd and have had two cats, plus a house rabbit which ran around the top floor when the children were younger.”

The recent refurbishment has preserved the apartment’s period features, including grand fireplaces, working shutters, cornice work and wooden staircase.

It has also upgraded an already lovely home into an immaculate period property, one which surely the Matharus will find an awful wrench to leave.