The Grange (originally St Giles' Grange) is a conservation area characterised by large late Victorian stone-built villas, often with large gardens. Many have now been sub-divided into flats, with further flats often being built on the grounds.​

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There are mentions of 'Sanct-Geill-Grange' in charters of King David and King Edgar, as church lands attached to St. Giles parish church in Edinburgh, the king retaining the superiority. 

 

The word grange is common across Britain and normally links to an extensive farm with a central mansionhouse. On 16 June 1376, King Robert II granted the superiority of the barony and lands of St Giles to his eldest son, John, Earl of Carrick, Steward of Scotland. In 1391 the estate was conferred upon the Wardlaw family.

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On 29 October 1506, St Giles Grange passed to John Cant, a Burgess of Edinburgh, and his spouse Agnes Carkettle, and in 1517 they granted the use of 18 acres (73,000 m2) of land to the nuns of St. Catherine of Siena. On 19 March 1691 a John Cant sold St Giles Grange in its entirety to William Dick.

 

At that time, the 18 acres (73,000 m2) previously feued to the nuns was now in the possession of Sir John Napier, the famous inventor of logarithms. When Isabel Dick, the heiress, married Sir Andrew Lauder, 5th Baronet of Fountainhall, in 1731, The Grange passed to him.

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The original tower house appears to be of a very early date possibly the 13th century, ornamented with two turrets and a battlemented roof; its position was isolated at the eastern end of the Burgh Muir, which at that time consisted of waste tracts of moorland and morass, stretching out southward as far as the Braid Hills and eastward to St. Leonard's Crags.

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The mansion, The Grange House, was enlarged over the centuries, a major restoration being carried out by Sir Thomas Dick Lauder, Bt.

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The house survived until 1936 when it was demolished to make way for flats. Stone wyverns from its gateposts, known locally as the 'Lauder griffins', were re-erected in Grange Loan. One was placed at the entrance to a stretch of Lover's Loan, a centuries-old path which was preserved in a late 19th-century redevelopment and is marked out with high stone walls separating it from the gardens on either side.

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Prestonfield is a primarily residential suburb in the south of Edinburgh.

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The area was known as Priestfield until the late seventeenth century, a name retained by the parish church, other institutions and several street names.

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It lies west of Duddingston and is bounded on its west side by Newington Cemetery. Cameron Toll lies to the south and the Commonwealth Pool lie to the north.

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It is best known as being home to Prestonfield House, a renowned hotel, and Prestonfield Golf Club. The golf course is the nearest to the city centre.

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The area is visually dominated by Arthur's Seat and Salisbury Crags to the east, which tower above the area.

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Source: Wikipedia