Ramsay Garden, Residential complex near Edinburgh Castle, Scotland
Ramsay Garden is a private residential complex of sixteen apartments sitting on Castlehill in Edinburgh's Old Town, just below the castle esplanade. The buildings combine red sandstone with white render and feature Scottish details such as towers, turrets, and oriel windows.
A house called Ramsay Lodge stood on this site from 1733, built for the poet Allan Ramsay. Between 1890 and 1893, the urban thinker Patrick Geddes oversaw a full redesign of the site as part of a broader effort to improve living conditions in the Old Town.
The name of the complex recalls the Scottish poet Allan Ramsay, who once lived on this very spot. The towers, balconies, and mix of red stone with white render make it a recognizable part of the Edinburgh skyline that visitors often photograph from below.
The complex sits on raised ground at the top of the Royal Mile, close to the castle esplanade, and is best seen from the street below. Since it is a private residential building, the interior is not open to visitors.
One of the buildings in the complex is octagonal in shape, which is unusual for a residential structure, and it once served as housing for art students. The artist John Duncan painted murals of Celtic mythology inside it, and those murals are still there today.
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