EXCLUSIVE HISTORIC HOUSES MEMBERS TOUR

Caroline Park is one of Edinburgh’s most historic private homes. For decades it has remained submerged and hidden in the industrial and post-industrial area of Granton, surrounded by its dominating gasworks. Now the area is redeveloped, the building is becoming increasingly visible.

The Category A-listed building sits within a modest portion of the original estate which now remains as restored parkland and garden with some mature and rare native species of trees. The house is flanked by a modest woodland to the east, the shore road and Firth of Forth to the north, the adjoining historic walled garden to the west and the recent Waterfront development to the south and immediate surroundings. The gardens contain a small original water garden, with many nesting birds, to the immediate northwest of the western range that was later remodelled by the architect William Adam. This pond, fed by the Granton burn which runs through the west of the property, is nestled adjacent to the walls of the equally historic walled garden.

The original sea gates by stonemason William Mylne also date from the period 1684-1685. These gates when open, would have led from Caroline Park to the Sea Road (now West Shore Road) and Granton’s once, but no longer, sandy shore.

There is now a new entrance and access to the south with gates recently built, which were modelled upon the original northern sea gates. This was to mitigate the loss of the old access road that lay to the west, linking north and central Edinburgh. This was a straight road north-south that would have led from Granton to the West End of central Edinburgh via what is now Crewe Road north. This avenue was destroyed in favour of the redevelopment masterplan and its main road Waterfront Avenue.

Thus the house has borne witness to the alterations, additions and changes throughout Scottish and British history; including the Renaissance, the signing of the act of union, the substantial changes as a result of the Industrial Revolution, the social fall-out of post-industrial Britain in the late 20th century and the recent rapid urban developments of the 21st century. Before listed status in 1966 by AB Fleming, most of the original land estate had been taken over for industrial use, such as for Granton Harbour and the Scottish Gasworks. The building was also once repurposed as an ink factory. The south range suffered a bad fire in 1934 and required timber and plaster reconstruction in a simple manner after. Over the past three decades the building has been gradually restored by its current owners to as close to its former authentic state as possible.

The quadrangular house as it appears today is predominantly the work of Sir George Mackenzie, Earl of Cromartie, who completed the remodelling of a smaller 16th-century house built by Andrew Logan of the Shore, Leith, in favour of an increasingly grand courtyard house. Fine Italian and French concepts in arts, crafts and aesthetics are reflected in the house’s intact Renaissance features on the northern side. The ceiling panels, painted by the artist Nicolas Heude, are an example of the huge contribution and influence left behind by the Huguenot diaspora and its skilled artists, designers and craftsmen who came as Protestant exiles to Britain during the late 17th century.

Tickets: £35 including tea, coffee, still/sparkling water, juice, pastries/cake

Access: No access for wheelchairs, although once on the first floor, the building plan is all on one level for those who have difficulty.

Restrictions: To respect residents’ dignity, security and privacy, no photographs taken to be shared publicly on social media. For example no hashtagging or geolocation of house interiors, location and name on Instagram, Facebook or Google (among others) on visitors’ personal posts. Pets allowed in the grounds on lead only to protect wildlife.

Please see our cancellation policy below:
If you cancel more than two weeks before the tour is scheduled to take place, we will fully refund your ticket money excluding any phone booking fees. If it’s less than 14 days before a tour, for any reason, we regret that we cannot refund your ticket money unless we can resell your ticket(s). If we cancel at any time, we will fully refund your ticket money. Although we make every effort to avoid it, sometimes a tour has to be cancelled at short notice due to circumstances beyond our control. In this case, we cannot accept responsibility for, or refund, any consequential losses, such as money spent on travel or accommodation.