House tenure
When the street was being developed, plots of land for houses were advertised for sale. (advert for sale of original plots - 1800) It is likely that some blocks were then developed by different builders, as is apparent from the varied styles and finishes of Numbers 3 to 15 on the South side. Other blocks were purchased by one builder, as is thought the case for Numbers 17 to 23. A few individuals, such as George Robertson (Number 28), purchased their own plot and commissioned an architect to build the house. Robertson's choice of architect was Thomas Bonnar, who then employed Thomas Hamilton to build the house the Robertson family lived in until the end of the century. James Gillespie Graham, the architect, designed his own house (Number 34) and lived there for sixteen years. It is fairly certain is that the first residents in each of the street’s house would have bought their property.
While it is certain that many houses would have remained owner occupied, others were leased from the owners, often for long periods. A number passed into the hands of trustees when the original residents died and were let by the trustees. (advert for Number 50 to let - 1843) For example, Number 55, was bought by James Pott following his marriage, and the couple lived there until their deaths. One son, James, lived on in the house for a few years, but moved out in 1855 when he joined the army. The house was then leased and, in 1884, the eldest son, George and his wife, Marion, who had been living at the Pott’s estate in Roxburghshire, returned to live there until 1911 when Marion, by then a widow, died. Also, at this time, it was not uncommon when a house was being leased, for all the furniture to be hired from the owner for the period of the lease.
Only a few of the properties that became Lodging Houses were owned by those who managed the establishment. Even after the lodging house at Number 11 was sold in 1859 it continued to function as lodgings.
An early sale, is that of Number 48 in 1828. The property included a coach house and stables, and the asking price was £1,700. House prices appear to have decreased during the first-half of the century. In 1850, Number 37 was advertised, and included ‘a shop and dwelling place above in York Lane and a share of Queen Street Gardens’ and, after having been on the market for many months, was re-advertised at the reduced price of £1,000. Ten years later, Number 7 was put up for sale for £1,350, but remained unsold for at least two years, and, in the same period, even the newly-built ‘Gothic House’ (Number 56), which was advertised as 'containing all the latest modern improvements', had to be re-advertised for the reduced Upset Price of £1,700. (advert for sale of Number 56 - 1860) To give an indication of such prices, here are examples of 1860 annual earnings: Agricultural Labourer - £20, Senior Clerk - £150, and Indian Civil Service Officer - £300. However, the majority of the professionals who owned houses in Albany Street would have had annual incomes of at least £1,000.
In 1883, Number 43 was advertised for sale at £700, the low price perhaps being due to the property’s condition as it had functioned as a lodging house for the previous twenty years. In 1902, Number 28, ‘consisting of four flats with an outhouse with separate laundry and two drying rooms in the former stable’, was on sale for £1,250.
There are a number of advertisements for the sale of furniture following an individual's death or move away from the city. (advert for sale of contents of Number 10 - 1823). When Edward Earl (Number 2) moved to England, he sold the contents of his house at 10 Abercromby Place. Among the items advertised for sale were Grecian and Ottoman couches, superb mirrors, a very fine-tuned pianoforte, Grecian lamps with cut glass crystal mounting, a few paintings by the first masters,and a considerable quantity of very choice old wines. When Alexander Macknight died in 1899, the list of his possessions being sold included a number of violins, a mangle and an invalid carriage,
From 1900 onwards, many houses were converted into flats or offices, or a mix of the two, and, by the 1960s, a large number had become offices. However, this trend began to reverse in the 1990s, with many of the office spaces being converted back to living accommodation. Many of the properties were divided into flats but, more recently, the trend has been for properties to be converted back to single houses (usually with the basement as a separate dwelling).
See Lodging Houses