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Today, I want to waffle about a building you've probably noticed if you've ever drove into Edinburgh from the north west. It goes by many names, Deanbrae House, Kirkbrae House or 10 Randolph Cliff, if you're formal.
Here's how you'd see it from Dean Bridge:
Here's how you'd see it from Dean Bridge:
And here's how you'd see it leaving town:
Here's how you'd see it, if the bollards didn't prevent you from swerving off onto Lynedock Place:
Kirkbrae is built in the Scottish baronial style, which can be summed up as
"What if castles, but ๐ฏ๐ช๐ผ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ธ๐ท?"
It's the Poundland version of Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany (which was constructed around the same time).
"What if castles, but ๐ฏ๐ช๐ผ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ธ๐ท?"
It's the Poundland version of Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany (which was constructed around the same time).
Kirkbrae takes the features of a castle and squashes them into a tiny footprint. It represents excellent value for money. It's got your formal fancy chimney:
It's got your angry, defensive chimney, which doubles as a turret for Hobbits:
This chimney needs gargoyles, of course. (admittedly, it appears as if these are partially functional, being used to drain rainwater from the turret floor)
It's got crow-stepped gables on the windows, featuring a relief which appears to show an accountant being attacked by lions:
It's got a sundial stuck on the corner:
There's a arrow slit in one wall, next to a security camera held together with duct-tape. Both deterrents from different millennia:
It's got like a whole tower stuck on the side, with ample room for hobbits to return fire from behind the parapets, if the security camera doesn't put off invaders:
Then there's a selection of lovely doors in panelled wood:
There's a sinister looking relief with the caption
"In the sweat of thy face shall thou eat bread Genesis 3 verse 19 anno dom 1619"
(the house dates from around 1690, but most of what you can see is much more recent, designed by James Graham Fairley in 1892):
"In the sweat of thy face shall thou eat bread Genesis 3 verse 19 anno dom 1619"
(the house dates from around 1690, but most of what you can see is much more recent, designed by James Graham Fairley in 1892):
It has adorable little windows which are approximately A4 in size:
But this architectural pattern-book isn't the most interesting aspect of Kirkbrae house. It's that this tiny house is SIX STORIES TALL. This is really hard to photograph in summer, as trees are hiding most of it. Here's what you see, if you peek over the side of Dean Bridge:
If you walk to the other side of the bridge for a better view, trees hide the full extent of the house:
Here's the best I could do, to give you an idea of the scale (each colour is a different floor):
The man responsible for the renovations was James Stewart, who ran a taxi cab firm from Kirkbrae house between 1860 and 1910.
Hamish Scott said of Steward "Opinionated, moralistic and eccentric, he was, to read between the lines, the cab driver from hell."
(image C W. Bailey Jr.)
Hamish Scott said of Steward "Opinionated, moralistic and eccentric, he was, to read between the lines, the cab driver from hell."
(image C W. Bailey Jr.)
I'm not sure who lived in Kirkbrae between 1910 and 1955, but after this date it was inhabited by Basil Skinner, who helped to found the Edinburgh New Town Conservation Committee and the Dean Village Association. He left Kirkbrae in 1983.
Hamish Scott's article from 2001 gives an excellent account of the house's more recent inhabitants and describes the interior. It's well worth a read. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/property/advice/propertymarket/3304170/An-eccentrics-invitation-to-the-mad-house.html
Here's where the house is on the map, if you want to poke about. https://www.google.com/maps/@55.9523661,-3.2145108,19z
