226 years. Sir William Lauder of Haltoun (d. Nov 1596) invested his son, Sir Alexander Lauder, Knt., younger of Haltoun and Sheriff Principal of Edinburgh, and his mother in life-rent in Bruntsfield in 1587, and they resided in Bruntsfield Manor, being then estranged from the laird of Haltoun. They significantly rebuilt the mansion house. In 1603 Sir Alexander Lauder sold it to John Fairlie of the family of Braid. Fairlie carried out extensive work to the original building, which is incorporated in the present mansion. His great-grandson, William Fairlie of Brounsfield, was still in possession after the reign of Mary, Queen of Scots. He sold Brounisfield to George Warrender of Lochend – then Baillie (councillor) and afterwards Lord Provost of Edinburgh – in July 1695, and that family were still in possession in 1900. Until just before the Second World War the Union flag flew regularly over the house whenever the family were in residence. By 1915 the feuing of the Bruntsfield Estate Marchmont was complete and no more than seven acres around the house remained in possession of the family. The carriage drive from Whitehouse Loan which swept round the now demolished Victorian wing and along the Lime Walk to the stables with their own entrance close to the twentieth century putting green. Bruntsfield House passed into Council ownership and since the 1970s has been incorporated into James Gillespie's High School as the school's main admin block. The house was categorised as a Listed Building by Historic Scotland in the early days of that agency. Bruntsfield was home to other mansions, not least that of Wrychtishousis on a site adjacent to present-day Gillespie Crescent. It was replaced by Gillespie's Hospital, built 1803-1805. The site is now occupied by offices of the Royal Blind Asylum and apartments for the elderly run by the Viewpoint Housing Association. One conspicuous building is the original Boroughmuir School (1905) at Viewpark off Whitehouse Loan, before that school moved to nearby Viewforth in 1914. The building then became James Gillespie's School for Girls until it was transformed into a new comprehensive school built on the grounds of Bruntsfield House in 1973. After serving as an annexe to a number of schools over the years, the Viewpark building has been recently converted into student residences. Housing The housing is mostly in the form of relatively high-quality tenements, interspersed with some large villas. In 2006 Bruntsfield was