Robert Louis Stevenson in Edinburgh

8 Howard Place

(November 1850 – January 1853)

I remember the first time I ever saw the house at 8 Howard Place, which I’m glad to say still stands and is in excellent condition. It was in April 2014, and it was with someone I was seeing at the time. We had been staying overnight in Edinburgh, a city I had only visited a couple of times before then. I remember we went to Princes Street Gardens, those large beautiful parks in the heart of the city. It was the very first time I’d been in them and I still remember how impressed I was with the views from there of the castle, towering high on its volcanic rock. Oddly, I have no recollection of seeing the Ross Fountain, although it was right there. Before we left for home, the person I was with asked if there was anywhere I would particularly like to see. As Treasure Island had been a fond memory from childhood, the idea of finding Robert Louis Stevenson’s birthplace suddenly occurred to me.

We had a little bit of trouble finding the house but, eventually, I was standing in front of it, looking at the initials RLS on the wrought iron gate and at the plaque on the wall beside the front door, which said: “Robert Louis Stevenson was born in this house on 13th November 1850”. Unfortunately, I didn’t take any photographs at the time but I’ve been back since. Here are some from September 2023:

It’s always a special feeling visiting the birthplace of one of your favourite authors, but this was the very first time I had done such a thing in my own country, so it still has a particular significance for me.

The house at 8 Howard Place is a private residence, not a museum, but the house attracts visitors from all over the world who have an interest in RLS. At one point, the owners had the entire Samoan Rugby team on their doorstep, which must have been quite an experience for everyone involved. Stevenson, of course, spent the final four years of his life in Samoa and is still very highly thought of there.

Between 1925 and 1964, 8 Howard Place was, in fact, a museum run by the Robert Louis Stevenson Club in Edinburgh. The house was sold in 1964 for £4,300. The collection of Stevenson memorabilia it housed now forms part of the Robert Louis Stevenson collection at the Writers Museum, just off the Royal Mile. At the time of writing, the house is up for sale again, but this time for more than a million pounds. According to Savills, the estate agent selling the house, it’s a Category A listed Georgian townhouse, with up to 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a number of other rooms, and front and back gardens. The house looks beautiful, both inside and out. Along with the rest of the terrace, it was built between 1809-1820.

Even though the family didn’t stay there for very long after Robert Louis Stevenson’s birth, I was still delighted to see the place, if only from the outside. The house is only a few minutes walk from Edinburgh’s Royal Botanic Gardens, as is the next house the Stevensons moved into at 9 Inverleith Terrace.

Next … 9 Inverleith Terrace