Table Of Content
Desirous of a grander house, the Earl asked the Adam brothers, Robert, John and James, to submit a design. Their completed drawings were presented in 1754 and a contract was agreed to build a new house to be called Leifnorris House. It was only when the foundation stone was laid on the 18th of July 1754 that his lordship decided the name should be changed to Dumfries House in line with his title. The prospect sparked an audacious campaign by Save Britain’s Heritage but it seemed doomed to failure until a last-minute intervention by the prince, who guaranteed a £20m loan which was raised by his charitable trust.
Dumfries House: the stately home at the heart of a royal crisis
The house and original contents, which include nearly 10% of Chippendale’s surviving work, represent one of the most important documents of the Scottish Enlightenment. Recently having been fastidiously restored to its original splendour, the house is open daily to the public from April-Oct. You can take one of our expert guided tours around the stunning interiors and savour the delights of this now resplendent 18th century stately home. Due to its significance and the risk of the furniture collection being distributed and auctioned, in 2007 the estate and its contents were purchased by a consortium headed by the Prince of Wales, including a £20m loan from the Prince's charitable trust. The intention was to renovate the estate to become self-sufficient, both to preserve it and regenerate the local economy.
Covering any concerns you may have ahead of your making your booking.
Dumfries House Access All Areas event for Ayrshire educators - Cumnock Chronicle
Dumfries House Access All Areas event for Ayrshire educators.
Posted: Fri, 01 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
The 2nd Marquess had spent his childhood at Dumfries House and nurtured the estate. His son, the 3rd Marquess, amongst his many passions was a great builder. The 4th Marquess, also working with Weir Schultz, continued to alter the house, creating for example, a stylish billiard room. In the 1930s he passed Dumfries House to his eldest son, the Earl of Dumfries and his young family.
Your special day at Dumfries House
Some exceptions and time changes may apply on specific dates – call or check the website for availability before travelling. The research has also shown that the house – far from being pickled in aspic – has been altered and adapted by each and every succeeding generation with incredible tact and deference to the original design. The content of many of our web listings is provided by third party operators and not VisitScotland.
Designations
As well as donors and sponsorship, funding was also intended to come from constructing the nearby housing development of Knockroon, a planned community along the lines of the Prince's similar venture, Poundbury in Dorset. It is located within a large estate, around two miles (3 km) west of Cumnock. Both the house and the gardens are listed as significant aspects of Scottish heritage. The house was subsequently offered for sale and two auctions dates were set aside in July 2007. However, a consortium led by HRH The Prince of Wales succeeded in purchasing the house and contents and, in doing so, saved Dumfries House and one of the most important collections of Georgian Scottish and English furniture for the nation.
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Recognizing the creativity of another rising star, he engaged furniture maker Thomas Chippendale to design and build him a set of 14, damask-covered, mahogany armchairs. The normal practice of the time would have been to get Chippendale to produce a single piece of furniture and then have the local cabinetmaker reproduce the others. Hundreds of the most beautiful historic houses, castles, and gardens across Britain offer our members free entry. The house holds the most important collection of works from Thomas Chippendale’s ‘Director’ period.
The architects were Scottish brothers John and Robert Adam, who developed the 18th century ‘Adam style’ of neoclassical interior design, with their work including Edinburgh City Chambers and Hopetoun House in West Lothian. This 60 minute tour presents the highlights of the collection, including the Chippendale furniture, the history of the house and its owners. Fourteen years ago its previous owner, the Marquess of Bute, considered selling it with the Chippendale furniture set to be the centrepiece of the auction. The stately home in East Ayrshire was built in the 1750s by the neoclassical master architect Robert Adam and his brothers, and furnished by Thomas Chippendale. The house is regarded as the most complete 18th-century home in Britain at the height of early Georgian taste and luxury. Heritage experts have described it as “jaw-dropping”, “exquisite” and “an absolute jewel”.
Saved by the intervention of His Royal Highness, The Prince Charles, Duke of Rothesay in 2007, Dumfries House combines the neoclassical architecture of Robert Adam with the furniture of Thomas Chippendale and leading 18th-century Scottish cabinet makers. Visitors can explore this stunning 2,000 acre estate 365 days a year, with free entry and parking. The gardens also feature a host of fascinating things to explore, including the vibrant Queen Elizabeth Walled Gardens that house a number of plants, terraces, and greenhouses.
Prince Charles Renovated This Incredible Historic Scottish Home
Dumfries House, a stately home near Glasgow, has long been considered one of Britain’s most significant architectural jewels. Elsewhere on the estate, the children are taught how to grow their own vegetables which, months later, they use to make soup for their lunch. In fact, cookery plays a part in other Dumfries House projects with young people who are struggling to find employment given an insight into a commercial kitchen and waiting skills to assist them in their quest for fulltime work.
New heating, wiring, and plumbing were installed, proving to be the costliest elements of the endeavor; experts were brought in to unearth intricate original painted decorations on the walls and ceilings and to repair the exceptional Rococo plasterwork. Humphries Weaving, a firm based in Suffolk, created vivid silk damasks—sapphire-blue for a drawing room, lemon-yellow for a parlor—and other fabrics, many of which were copied from documents surviving from the house’s earliest days. When a deal to sell the 2,000-acre property to the Scottish National Trust fell through, Lord Bute took the bold move of marketing it via an estate agency and hiring Christie’s to sell off its holdings. Experts at the auction house began documenting the contents of the mansion; a two-volume catalogue was produced, and sale dates were set for July 12 and 13, 2007. In 1743 William Crichton-Dalrymple, 5th Earl of Dumfries, resigned his army commission and retired to his Ayrshire Estate. He was made a member of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle in 1752, a very prestigious award granted directly by the Sovereign.
As readers might imagine, the estate is bristling with history and novelty, a mix of old and new. The maze, which has an alternative way in for the adults so they reach the center before their offspring, is another attraction. The John Adam bridge, which dates from 1760, is in contrast to the Chinese bridge, designed by Schultz but only built after the recent buyout. The oldest remaining building on the estate is the doo’cot (dovecot) built in 1671 while even some of the trees date from around 1700. Dalrymple set about the task of furnishing his new house with enthusiasm.
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