Balbirnie House is an early 19th-century country house in Glenrothes, in central

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

, Scotland. The present house was completed in 1817 as a rebuild of an 18th-century building, itself a replacement for a 17th-century dwelling. The home of the Balfour family from 1640, the house was sold in 1969 and opened as a hotel in 1990. The grounds now comprise a large public park and a golf course. The house is protected as a category A

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

, while the grounds are included in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland.

History

Around 1640, the Balbirnie estate was acquired by the family of Balfour. A 17th-century house on the estate was remodelled or replaced in the later 18th century for John Balfour. The architecture of these works, completed around 1782, has been attributed to both James Nisbet and to John Baxter Jr. In 1815 further changes were begun by General Robert Balfour, to designs by the architect

Richard Crichton Richard Crichton (died 1817) was a Scottish architect operating in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He was described as "competent and versatile". Life He was born around 1771, the son of James Crichton (d.1797) an Edinburgh mason. ...

. Some £16,000 was spent on extending the south-west front and constructing the portico at the south-east. At the same time, landscape gardener Thomas White provided plans for the improvement of the 18th-century parkland. Meanwhile, General Balfour's two brothers were developing new houses at Whittingehame in East Lothian and Newton Don in the Borders, funded by the same large inheritance. Further alterations, comprising offices, were carried out in 1860, possibly designed by David Bryce. The plant collection was expanded from the mid-19th century with seeds sent from India by George Balfour, a friend of botanist William Hooker. The garden was remodelled in 1926 by Sir Robert Lorimer. In 1969 the house and estate was acquired by the Glenrothes Development Corporation, who were then building the

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of Glenrothes. A golf course was laid out in the grounds, while the house was converted into council offices. The house was sold on to a private owner who redeveloped it as a 30-bedroom hotel, opened in 1990 by

Malcolm Rifkind Sir Malcolm Leslie Rifkind (born 21 June 1946) is a British politician who served in the cabinets of Margaret Thatcher and John Major from 1986 to 1997, and most recently as chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament from 2 ...

who was then

Secretary of State for Scotland The secretary of state for Scotland ( gd, Rùnaire Stàite na h-Alba; sco, Secretar o State fir Scotland), also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the Unit ...

. of parkland and woodland remain in the ownership of Fife Council as a public park.

References

{{reflist

External links

Balbirnie House Hotel website
Houses in Fife Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes Category A listed buildings in Fife Hotels in Fife Listed hotels in Scotland Parks in Fife Glenrothes Houses completed in 1817 1817 establishments in Scotland Hotels established in 1990 1990 establishments in Scotland