An elegant and prestigious group of tenement houses which lie adjacent to the Castle Esplanade at the top of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh. Built 1892-3 around the houses of poet Allan Ramsay (1686 - 1758) and his son, also Allan, the painter (1713-84), to the design of innovative town planner Sir Patrick Geddes (1854 - 1932), the development was intended to bring Edinburgh University staff and students into contact with Edinburgh citizens in a residential setting. The mixture of Scottish baronial and English cottage styles are combined with distinctive red sandstone and whitewash on a steeply-sloping site, which gives spectacular views over the New Town. Geddes lived here, along with his daughter Nora (1887 - 1967) and her husband the architect Sir Frank Mears (1880 - 1953). Geddes' flat, which retains its original features, was left to the National Trust for Scotland. Other notable residents included the artist George Clark Stanton (1832-94), explorer William Burn Murdoch (1862 - 1939) and another architect Robert Naismith (1916 - 2004). The flats of Ramsay Garden are now amongst the most sought-after in the city.
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