A distinctive housing phenomenon for over 160 years, the Edinburgh ‘Colonies’ have a remarkable history. Locals recognise them instantly. With imaginative design and build, the homes included gardens, kitchens, and a front door in stark contrast to the multi-storey living of the Old Town. Built in parallel lines, like a honeycomb, over 2,300 houses were constructed by the Edinburgh Cooperative Building Company Limited (ECBC) on 11 different sites on the outskirts – colonies! – of Edinburgh and Leith in the fifty years between 1861 and 1911.
Where exactly are the ‘Colonies’? Why have they proved to be so appealing as a housing type? Why have there been no demolitions? How were women involved in the Edinburgh Cooperative Building Company? Why, ultimately, did the company fail?
These are a few of the issues raised in Happy Homes, a significantly revised and expanded version of the author’s Edinburgh’s Colonies (2011) and based on a considerable amount of new research.
Richard Rodger is the prize-winning author of The Transformation of Edinburgh: Land, Property and Trust and has wide ranging interests in the development of towns and cities. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Science and Emeritus Professor of Economic and Social History at the University of Edinburgh.
192 pages with 50+ illustrations; ISBN: 978-0-9930544-9-5
Click here to purchase Richard Rodger’s Happy Homes book.
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