Three of a kind: Victorian family homes

From solid tenements in our cities, glorious municipal buildings and pretty terraced cottages, the Victorian era has left a legacy of architecture which is still highly prized.

Bonnytoun House, Linlithgow, is an early Victorian mansion with spectacular views. It retains original features such as cornicing and shutters, while the bathrooms and kitchen are contemporary. It has five bedrooms and is set in 24 acres of mature gardens. Offers over £1.8 million. Contact Knight Frank on 0131 516 7570.

But perhaps it is the glorious mansions built by the aristocracy and the new rich industrialists that are the most impressive buildings which remain from the era.

The sheer size of some of the larger Victorian family homes is unlikely ever to be matched by modern private residences, and while many have been split into more manageable sizes for today’s market, there are plenty that remain whole and represent the pinnacle of property on the Scottish market.

Such homes, if they have been well maintained, retain features and examples of craftsmanship that are simply unavailable even if buyers had the deep pockets to commission them today.

56 Fountainhall Road, the Grange, Edinburgh is a detached seven-bedroom villa with a wealth of period features such as stained glass and parquet flooring. One of the finest family homes in the city, all the bedrooms are ensuite and the public rooms are grand and impressive. Offers over £2.25 million. Contact Rettie & Co on 0131 624 9085.

Victorian architects made free with earlier styles often mixing influences.

The best examples display the exuberance of design of the era and surviving examples make as much of a statement today as when they were first completed.

Bonnytoun House is half a mile from Linlithgow with views of the loch and palace.

It was built in 1840 and the design has been attributed to Thomas Hamilton, perhaps the most noted Scottish architect of the day. It has a porch described as “flamboyant” with classical pillars, and large octagonal chimney stacks. Today the six-bedroomed house stands in grounds of 24 acres and includes a stable courtyard and walled garden which, like the house is B listed.

Rothes Glen House, Aberlour, Banffshire, is a Scots baronial mansion which has been fully restored with eight public rooms and 11 bedrooms. It also has a nursery wing and is set in nine-acre grounds. Offers over £1.1 million. Contact Savills on 01356 628628.

In Edinburgh, the Grange is the home of splendid Victorian properties.

Constructed by James Proudfoot in 1884, 56 Fountainhall Road is a magnificent detached Victorian house set amid beautiful private gardens with an interior combining fine period detail such as ornate cornicing and plasterwork, working shutters, original tiling in the vestibule, arched stained glass window and parquet flooring.

Rothes Glen House near Aberlour in Banffshire however is a fine example of late Victorian style. Built as a Scots baronial mansion with a tower, it was designed in 1893 by Alexander Ross as a summer residence for the Dunbar-Dunbar family before serving time as a hotel and part of Gordonstoun school.

It is now fully restored as a private house and for those with deep pockets would make an extraordinary home.