84 Slateford Road

84 Slateford Road was built to a Franco-Scottish design by Jean Blanc and James Gordon in 1887 as offices for ‘Thomas & James Bernard Ltd’. This company started out as The Edinburgh Brewery based in the Cannongate area. Thomas Bernard passed away during 1874, the business went to his two sons, Daniel and John Bernard, whose initials can be seen decoratively displayed on an exterior panel of the former office building. A new, larger brewery was constructed on Slateford road, opening in 1888. Sadly a year later the brothers fell out. Daniel Bernard left to set up his own brewery at Gorgie. Part of that location is still used as maltings for the North British Distillery Company's site.
Moving on to 1895, Daniel Bernard’s new business was acquired by ‘Thomas & James Bernard Ltd’. Whether this was an amicable or hostile merger I’m unable to find out. Winding up of this enlarged company came about in 1960 when it was bought by Scottish Brewers Limited and its brewing activity closed down.
What 84 Slateford Road was used for after 1960 remains a mystery to me. However, the building was converted into four apartments in 1999 with prices ranging from £145,000 to over £200,000. The structure is ‘Category B’ listed. Any factual errors in this write up are entirely my own fault.