Gladstone's Land

Built in 1550 then extensively rebuilt seventy years later by the merchant burgess Thomas Gledstanes, an ancestor of Victorian-era British prime minister William Gladstone, Gladstone's Land is a typical example of the lands – or tenements – that once lined the Royal Mile, right down to the high level entry door up a narrow flight of external stairs. The National Trust for Scotland (NTS) maintains the property in the 17th century style of its former owner; you can poke around in half a dozen rooms over two floors including a bedchamber complete with painted wooden ceiling and ornately carved bed. The gilded bird of prey outside the building links to the original owner's name: gled is an old Scots word for red-tailed kite, a bird that sometimes nests among stanes (stones). If you're very taken with Gladstone's Land, the NTS rents out the upper floors as self-contained holiday accommodation – see its website for details.