THE Edinburgh office of Strutt & Parker (0131–226 2500) has announced the sale of one of Scotland’s grandest country houses, the striking, Category A-listed Auchendennan House near Alexandria, Dunbartonshire, a beautifully restored, 54-room baronial castle on the south-west shore of Loch Lomond, where the lowlands of Central Scotland and the Highlands meet.
The agents quote a guide price of ‘offers over £3.75 million’ for the four-storey sandstone castle, set in 55 acres of formal gardens and parkland within Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park, commanding spectacular views across the lake towards Ben Lomond, 3,196ft high and the most southerly of the Scottish Munros. The castle, designed by the eminent Glasgow architect, John Burnet Snr, was built in about 1866 for George Martin, a Glasgow-based East India merchant, on the site of an earlier Italianate property of which no trace remains. Burnet also designed the quadrangular clock house, cottage and stables—all listed Category B. The magnificent library was designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh.
In 1898, William Chrystal, a brilliant industrial chemist and a keen yachtsman, bought Auchendennan House and commissioned the architect Alexander Nisbet Paterson, who studied in Paris and began his career as an architect working with Burnet, to rebuild and extend the castle. In 1902, Paterson, with assistance from his chief draughtsman, Donald McKay Stoddart, added the distinctive porte cochère in Scottish Renaissance style, the oak-panelled entrance hall with its large carved fireplace and significantly altered, enlarged and embellished the interior with carvings and mythological inscriptions.
Denne historien er fra December 09, 2020-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra December 09, 2020-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Kitchen garden cook - Apples
'Sweet and crisp, apples are the epitome of autumn flavour'
The original Mr Rochester
Three classic houses in North Yorkshire have come to the market; the owner of one inspired Charlotte Brontë to write Jane Eyre
Get it write
Desks, once akin to instruments of torture for scribes, have become cherished repositories of memories and secrets. Matthew Dennison charts their evolution
'Sloes hath ben my food'
A possible paint for the Picts and a definite culprit in tea fraud, the cheek-suckingly sour sloe's spiritual home is indisputably in gin, says John Wright
Souvenirs of greatness
FOR many years, some large boxes have been stored and forgotten in the dark recesses of the garage. Unpacked last week, the contents turned out to be pots: some, perhaps, nearing a century old—dense terracotta, of interesting provenance.
Plants for plants' sake
The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire The home of Edward Banks The Banks family is synonymous with an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are presents from distinguished friends, garnered over two centuries. Be prepared to be amazed, says Charles Quest-Ritson
Capturing the castle
Seventy years after Christian Dior’s last fashion show in Scotland, the brand returned under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for a celebratory event honouring local craftsmanship, the beauty of the land and the Auld Alliance, explains Kim Parker
Nature's own cathedral
Our tallest native tree 'most lovely of all', the stately beech creates a shaded environment that few plants can survive. John Lewis-Stempel ventures into the enchanted woods
All that money could buy
A new book explores the lost riches of London's grand houses. Its author, Steven Brindle, looks at the residences of plutocrats built by the nouveaux riches of the late-Victorian and Edwardian ages
In with the old
Diamonds are meant to sparkle in candlelight, but many now gather dust in jewellery boxes. To wear them today, we may need to reimagine them, as Hetty Lintell discovers with her grandmother's jewellery
