| 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 (becoming Baron of Kinross in the Baronage of Scotland) 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, and a residence of the British royal family. It is near the village of Crathie, 9 miles (14 km) west of Ballater and 50 miles (80 km) west of Aberdeen.
Perth and Kinross is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy area. It is bordered by Highland and Aberdeenshire to the north, Angus, Dundee, and Fife to the east, Clackmannanshire to the south, and Stirling and Argyll and Bute to the west.
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 1975. 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.
Fyvie Castle is a castle in the village of Fyvie, near Turriff in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
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. Andrew Chirnside was a previous owner.
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, two 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.
Craigiehall is a late-17th-century country house, which until 2015 served as the Headquarters of the British Army in Scotland. It is located close to Cramond, around 9 km (5.6 mi) west of central Edinburgh, Scotland.
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.
Pitfour Castle is an 18th-century country house situated on the southeast edge of the village of St Madoes in the Carse of Gowrie, Perthshire, Scotland. It is a Category A listed building. Pitfour Castle is a private residence and access to the grounds is not available to the public.
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.
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.
Balmanno Castle is a moated tower house located in Dron, Perth and Kinross. It was built between 1570 and 1580. It is now modernised and is in good condition. The moat is still partially filled with water. It was built for George Auchinleck, after he had acquired the estate. The house is a Category A listed building and the grounds are included in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland.
Dowhill Castle is a ruined castle in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. Sited on a hill near Loch Leven, the oldest part of the castle was built in around 1500 as a tower house. The main structure was extended in around 1600 with additional living space, as well as a tower and turret. The castle had a fortified courtyard (barmkin) to the north with a separate tower. There were probably four storeys but only two still survive.
