| Kinross House | |
|---|---|
 The garden front of Kinross House | |
  Location within Perth and Kinross | |
| General information | |
| Coordinates | 56°12′11″N3°24′34″W / 56.203003°N 3.409553°W |
Kinross House is a late 17th-century country house overlooking Loch Leven, near Kinross in Kinross-shire, Scotland.
Construction of the house began in 1685, by the architect Sir William Bruce as his own home. It is regarded as one of his finest works, and was called by Daniel Defoe "the most beautiful and regular piece of architecture in Scotland". [1] The builder was Tobias Bauchop of Alloa. [2]
The house retains most of its original internal decoration. It was occupied for 200 years as the home of the Montgomery family, who purchased the property in the late 18th century. Kinross House is a Category A listed building, and its grounds are listed in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland. [3] [4]
The grounds cover 100 acres of formal gardens and woodland, also including Castle Island on Loch Leven. Lochleven Castle is amongst the most important medieval castles in Scotland, and is renowned as the castle where Mary Queen of Scots debated the future of the Scottish Reformation with Presbyterian theologian John Knox and where she was later imprisoned in 1567. It is also where she abdicated the Scottish throne in favour of her infant son James VI (later to become King James I of England). [5]
In 2010, the house and grounds were sold to Donald Fothergill, a Yorkshire businessman, who thoroughly refurbished the house. Kinross House and its grounds are now offered for hire for gatherings such as parties, weddings and meetings. The House and Coach House have a number of reception rooms and 24 bedrooms located between the House and the adjacent Coach House: the main house has 14 bedrooms and the Coach House has a further 10 bedrooms. The Coach House also has a boutique day spa. [6]
Kinross House was featured in the BBC TV series The Country House Revealed (2011) and How We Built Britain (2007) as well in Land of Hope and Glory - British Country Life. [7] The series was accompanied by a full-length illustrated companion book published by the BBC which featured Kinross House as a dedicated chapter appearing as Chapter Two of the book edition. The six chapters of the book correspond to the six episodes of the BBC series. [8]
Balmoral Castle is a large estate house in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, owned by Queen Elizabeth II. It is near the village of Crathie, 9 miles west of Ballater and 50 miles west of Aberdeen.
Perth and Kinross is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland and a Lieutenancy Area. It borders onto the Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyll and Bute, Clackmannanshire, Dundee, Fife, Highland and Stirling council areas. Perth is the administrative centre. With the exception of a large area of south-western Perthshire, the council area mostly corresponds to the historic counties of Perthshire and Kinross-shire.
Kinross is a burgh in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, around 13 miles south of Perth and around 20 miles northwest of Edinburgh. It is the traditional county town of the historic county of Kinross-shire.
The County of Kinross or Kinross-shire is a historic county and registration county in eastern Scotland, administered as part of Perth and Kinross since 1930. Surrounding its largest settlement and county town of Kinross, the county borders Perthshire to the north and Fife to the east, south and west.
Loch Leven is a fresh water loch located immediately to the east of the burgh of Kinross in Perth and Kinross council area, central Scotland. Roughly triangular, the loch is about 6 km (3.7 mi) at its longest. Prior to the canalisation of the River Leven, and the partial draining of the loch in 1826–36, Loch Leven was considerably larger. The drop in water level by 1.4 m reduced the loch to 75% of its former size, and exposed several small islands, as well as greatly increasing the size of the existing ones.
Craigievar Castle is a pinkish harled castle or fortified country house 6 miles (9.7 km) south of Alford, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It was the seat of Clan Sempill and the Forbes family resided here for 350 years until 1963, when the property was given to the National Trust for Scotland by William Forbes-Sempill, 19th Lord Sempill, in the 1960s. The setting is among scenic rolling foothills of the Grampian Mountains, and the contrast of its massive lower storey structure to the finely sculpted multiple turrets, gargoyles and high corbelling work to create a classic fairytale appearance.
Lochleven Castle is a ruined castle on an island in Loch Leven, in the Perth and Kinross local authority area of Scotland. Possibly built around 1300, the castle was the site of military action during the Wars of Scottish Independence (1296–1357). In the latter part of the 14th century, the castle was granted to William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas, by his uncle. It remained in the Douglases' hands for the next 300 years. Mary, Queen of Scots, was imprisoned there in 1567–68, and forced to abdicate as queen, before escaping with the help of her gaoler's family. In 1588, the queen's gaoler inherited the title of Earl of Morton, and moved away from the castle. In 1675, Sir William Bruce, an architect, bought the castle and used it as a focal point for his garden; it was never again used as a residence.
Skibo Castle is located to the west of Dornoch in the Highland county of Sutherland, Scotland overlooking the Dornoch Firth. Although largely of the 19th century and early 20th century, when it was the home of industrialist Andrew Carnegie, its origins go back much earlier.
William Adam was a Scottish architect, mason, and entrepreneur. He was the foremost architect of his time in Scotland, designing and building numerous country houses and public buildings, and often acting as contractor as well as architect. Among his best known works are Hopetoun House near Edinburgh, and Duff House in Banff. His individual, exuberant style built on the Palladian style, but with Baroque details inspired by Vanbrugh and Continental architecture.
Balloch Country Park is a 200-acre (0.81 km2) country park on the southern tip of Loch Lomond in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It was recognised as a country park in 1980, and it is the only country park in the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, Scotland's first national park. Balloch Country Park features nature trails, guided walks, a walled garden, and picnic lawns with views of the Loch. It was originally developed in the early 19th century by John Buchanan, a partner in the Glasgow and Ship Bank, and the gardens were significantly improved by the Dennistoun-Browns, who bought the estate in 1851. Buchanan also built Balloch Castle, which now serves as the park's visitors' center.
Sir William Bruce of Kinross, 1st Baronet, was a Scottish gentleman-architect, "the effective founder of classical architecture in Scotland," as Howard Colvin observes. As a key figure in introducing the Palladian style into Scotland, he has been compared to the pioneering English architects Inigo Jones and Christopher Wren, and to the contemporaneous introducers of French style in English domestic architecture, Hugh May and Sir Roger Pratt.
Airthrey Castle is a historic building and estate which now forms part of the buildings and grounds of the University of Stirling in central Scotland. The 18th-century building with 19th-century additions occupies a beautiful setting in landscaped grounds in the southern edge of the Ochil Hills, above the Forth valley. It is located close to Bridge of Allan, 2 miles from the historic city of Stirling.
Ochtertyre is a country house and estate in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It is located in Strathearn, between Crieff and Loch Turret, north of the A85.
Ross Priory is an early 19th-century country house located west of Gartocharn, West Dunbartonshire, on the south shore of Loch Lomond, Scotland. From the 14th century the estate, known as The Ross, was owned by a branch of the Buchanan family of Buchanan Castle, who built a house here in 1695. The present house is the result of remodelling by James Gillespie Graham and was complete in 1816. The term "priory" does not imply ecclesiastical provenance, but is simply a 19th-century romantic affectation. Sir Walter Scott spent time at Ross Priory in the years following the rebuilding. It was owned by subsequent members of the Leith-Buchanan family until the later 20th century. In 1973 it was sold to Strathclyde University and now serves as a recreational and conference centre.
Portmoak is a parish in Kinross-shire, Scotland. It consists of a group of settlements running north to south: Glenlomond, Wester Balgedie, Easter Balgedie, Kinnesswood, Kilmagadwood and Scotlandwell.
Scotlandwell is a village in Portmoak, Kinross-shire, Scotland. It is within the Perth and Kinross council area. It lies to the east of Loch Leven, at the junction of the A977 and B920 roads, approximately 4 miles west of Glenrothes and 4 miles east of Kinross.
The Country House Revealed is a six-part BBC series first aired on BBC Two in May 2011, in which British architectural historian Dan Cruickshank visits six houses never before open to public view, and examines the lives of the families who lived there. The series was accompanied by a full-length illustrated companion book published by the BBC.
The Haining is a country house and estate in Selkirk in the Scottish Borders. The present house dates from the 1790s, and was a property of the Pringle family. In 2009, the house and grounds were bequeathed to the people of Selkirkshire and the wider public. The Haining Charitable Trust is now working on developing the building as a centre for exhibitions and events, highlighting art, culture and history. The ground floor of the House has been refurbished and is now let out for various events and functions. The Old Coach House and Stable outbuildings have been refurbished and now offer six brand new artists studios. A two-bedroom holiday apartment, The Ettrick, is also now available within the grounds available for booking via Visit Scotland. The "Old Ginger" statue is located in the kennel yard.
Estate houses in Scotland or Scottish country houses, are large houses usually on landed estates in Scotland. They were built from the sixteenth century, after defensive castles began to be replaced by more comfortable residences for royalty, nobility and local lairds. The origins of Scottish estate houses are in aristocratic emulation of the extensive building and rebuilding of royal residences, beginning with Linlithgow, under the influence of Renaissance architecture. In the 1560s the unique Scottish style of the Scots baronial emerged, which combined features from medieval castles, tower houses, and peel towers with Renaissance plans, in houses designed primarily for residence rather than defence.
Strathleven House is an early 18th-century country house in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It is located in the Vale of Leven, around 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) north of Dumbarton. Built in 1700, it is probably the work of the architect James Smith, and has been described as "the earliest surviving example of the classic Palladian country house in Scotland". Strathleven House, and its 18th-century dovecote, are protected as category A listed buildings,
Coordinates: 56°12′10.81″N3°24′34.39″W / 56.2030028°N 3.4095528°W