Mews village with an eye on the past

You don’t get many main door apartments that are also second floor, but the property at 25 Dublin Street Lane North, Edinburgh, is unusual.

Part of an award-winning mews development in the New Town, 25 Dublin Street Lane North is a twobedroomed second-floor flat set in a very central spot.

The property has bright, wellproportioned accommodation, a leafy outlook and an allocated secure parking place.

The mews development is of great interest, completed by Richard Murphy Architects in 2000. The original site was one of the very few examples of a pattern in the Georgian New Town that predated it’s construction.

The buildings that existed on the site were of indeterminate age, but their footprint could be traced back to the old Broughton Village, seen on contemporary maps as being surrounded by countryside.

The village had been scheduled for total elimination, but eventually

found itself encircled by tenements when the New Town was built.

Although it was impossible to reuse the buildings in the mews development, their footprint was preserved by the architects, giving the feel of an organically planned village in contrast to the rigid formality of the New Town.

In the spirit of medieval houses, all the modern apartments are reached by external staircases, timber panels have been used as a nod to the former timberyard nearby and the buildings have been laid out informally – or a bit higgledypiggledy – giving the impression that you have stumbled into a village in the middle of the city.

The flat at number 25 has some lovely features. The sitting and dining room has a vaulted ceiling, with an aspect to the front and rear, with sliding doors opening onto two Juliet balconies, making it most un-mews like.

The property is on the market at offers over £315,000, call Simpson and Marwick on 0131-525 8600.