CONTEMPORARY CLASSIC

FIONA AND TIM SHAW HAVE CREATED A MOOD OF RELAXED ELEGANCE FOR THEIR TOWN HOUSE HOME IN ONE OF EDINBURGH'S MOST ATTRACTIVE RESIDENTIAL SQUARES.

Built in the 1820s as part of James Milne's plan for the first New Town of Edinburgh, Saxe Coburg Place is a gem. It is not the capital's grandest classical square, nor its largest, but it is arguably its prettiest, thanks in part to the pleasingly irregular roofline and the subtle variation of the façades.

It is also remarkably peaceful: although the bustle of Stockbridge is less than five minutes' walk away, you can hear birds singing in the elegant, tree-lined garden that graces the centre of the square, and - best of all - there is no through traffic. Heaven indeed, or as close as it gets in the heart of the capital.

Number 10, currently on the market, is a fine Grade B listed classical town house on four floors. It has been lovingly restored by its owners, fashion designer Fiona Shaw and her lighting designer husband Tim, not so much as a pure design project but as a home for living in.

"We looked for a town house for four years before finding this one," says Fiona. "We knew it needed a lot of work, but everything about it was right: the aspect, the sunlight, the quietness of the square, the sense of community. We knew we had a fine blank canvas on which to work."

And work they have. Everything has been done to restore the neo-classical interior in all its detail, while at the same time creating a home that a modern family can actually live in.

"When we entertain guests they can sit and have drinks and we can talk together while i'm preparing supper."

"The first task was to reconnect the basement, which had been a separate flat, with the rest of the house," says Fiona. "We took out the typical long basement corridor with cellars off, and created a large open space for family living, based around a practical kitchen." The result is spectacular: a glass-walled garden room extending from the rear and leading directly onto the garden, which slopes gently down to the Water of Leith. To the side is the main kitchen, equipped to a standard that Gordon or Delia would be proud of and blessed with not only the latest intelligent appliances but a walk-in larder, no less, all separated at shoulder height from the main open-plan area. "Cooking is my passion," Fiona says, "but we created this boundary so that when we entertain guests they can sit and have drinks and we can talk together while I'm preparing supper, without them seeing directly into the kitchen itself."

Also at basement level is a self-contained flat, previously a holiday let but currently occupied by the Shaws' au pair (they have eighteen-month-old twins, so there's clearly plenty for her to do), with its own kitchen, living room, bedroom and bathroom.

To the front of the ground floor is a beautiful formal dining room with two windows, curved walls and meticulously restored cornicing. It's not hard to visualise the original occupants of the house, sitting here around the table with their guests, enjoying the view onto the gardens and discussing the gossip of the day, while servants ferry them courses from the kitchen below.

To the rear on this floor is a large study, lined with bookshelves, where Fiona worked on her design projects, while to the side is a large laundry room which also houses the condensing boiler and the controls for the zoned central heating system. Unusually for houses of this kind, there is also a lavatory on each floor.

Ascending the stone staircase, stripped by the Shaws of its heavy coating of white paint, we reach the first floor and the superb drawing room, where three tall windows present a dramatic backstage view of Stockbridge, the New Town and onwards to the castle itself. "It's perfect for drinks parties," says Fiona, "but it's also practical as it has its own mini-kitchen to the side where we can prepare drinks, and even make a cup of tea in the morning without having to go down to the main kitchen below."

Here also are two of the six bedrooms, one with an en suite bathroom that can be entered from the hall but also closed off. "All the taps in the house are by Vola and designed in the 1950s by Arne Jacobsen," Fiona explains. "Most of the bathroom fittings are by Duravit, chosen from their wonderful architect range. They give a designed look to the bathrooms but they're classical at the same time, which is the look we have tried to create throughout the whole house."

At the very top of the house the re-glazed cupola affords a welcome view of the sky while bringing light directly into the stairwell - this use of natural light being, of course, one of the guiding principles of neo-classical interior design. Here on the second floor are two guest bedrooms, one of which functions as the twins' nursery, and the master bedroom with its own bathroom and dressing room.

The views from the second floor, whether to the front onto the gardens or to the rear onto the roofscape of the New Town and Stockbridge, are surely amongst Edinburgh's finest. "And it's so quiet too," Fiona says. "There's a real community feel to the street; several families have children and in summer time we have games and picnics in the gardens. Yet at the same time it's very peaceful. No-one seems to know Saxe Coburg Place is here."

All of which will no doubt be welcome news to whoever is lucky enough to acquire this jewel of a property.

Rettie & Co Ltd. Registered in Scotland No SC144330.

Registered Office Deuchrie, Dunbar, East Lothian, EH42 1TG.

VAT Reg. No. 593 2816 16

Terms & Conditions :: Privacy Policy :: Site Map :: Login :: mail@rettie.co.uk