10 Glenfinlas Street forms part of the Second New Town of Edinburgh and was built in 1830 on land owned by the Earl of Moray and was designed by James Gillespie Graham (see left). The street was named after part of the Earl’s estates at Glen Finglas in the Trossachs. Originally only 3 houses were built in the street (numbers 2, 3 and 4) and our house was number 3. Following further development in the 1850’s, houses were added to each end of the street and number 1 was built. On completion of a new development in 1990, the house was renumbered to No. 10.
From 1830 to 1839, the house was occupied by Sir Charles D Fergusson, an advocate and by his wife Helen Boyle, who was the daughter of David Boyle, Lord Justice General of Scotland. Their eldest son James became Governor of South Australia, New Zealand and Bombay. Following the occupancy by the Fergusson’s, there were four different occupants until 1845, when Doctor James Simson and his family took over the house for the next 42 years. Dr Simson was twice President of the Royal College of Surgeons, and was surgeon at Calton Jail and medical officer at the New Town Dispensary. In 1887, the house then passed to Dr Simson’s son, David, who was an advocate.
In 1914, the house was acquired by a legal firm. They gradually took over more and more of the street, until eventually they were the occupants of all five buildings in Glenfinlas Street. With the advent of new technology, Georgian buildings became more and more impractical as office space, and following the departure of the lawyers to a new glass and steel office block, 10 Glenfinlas Street was bought as a family home by Diane and Alan Dickson in 1996.
The house has now been carefully restored and modernised to provide a comfortable family home within a historic building. It is protected by a ‘Category A’ building classification, the highest grading of protection maintained by Historic Scotland.
The main house occupies the first, second and third floors of the building, and has a grand hand painted marbled main hall, with a large glass cupola. The main drawing room is a stunning room overlooking gardens with a floor area of more than 60 square metres.
The house was open to the public for Doors Open Day in 2000 and has featured in 'Other People's Houses' on Channel 4 and in 'Scoland on Sunday' Homes magazine.