Kinross House is a late 17th-century

country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

overlooking Loch Leven, near

Kinross Kinross (, gd, Ceann Rois) is a burgh in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, around south of Perth and around northwest of Edinburgh. It is the traditional county town of the historic county of Kinross-shire. History Kinross's origins are connect ...

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 Per ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

History

Construction of the house began in 1685, by the architect

Sir William Bruce Sir William Bruce of Kinross, 1st Baronet (c. 1630 – 1 January 1710), was a Scottish gentleman-architect, "the effective founder of classical architecture in Scotland," as Howard Colvin observes.Colvin, p.172–176 As a key figure in introduc ...

as his own home. It is regarded as one of his finest works, and was called by

Daniel Defoe Daniel Defoe (; born Daniel Foe; – 24 April 1731) was an English writer, trader, journalist, pamphleteer and spy. He is most famous for his novel ''Robinson Crusoe'', published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its ...

"the most beautiful and regular piece of architecture in Scotland". The builder was

Tobias Bauchop Tobias Bauchop or Baccup (c.1665 – 1710) was a 17th-century Scottish master mason responsible for several architctural masterpieces, mainly working as contractor to the eminent architect William Bruce (architect), Sir William Bruce. Life He was ...

Alloa Alloa (Received Pronunciation ; educated Scottish pronunciation /ˈaloʊa/; gd, Alamhagh, possibly meaning "rock plain") is a town in Clackmannanshire in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It is on the north bank of the Forth at the spot where ...

. 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 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 ...

, and its grounds are listed in the

Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland The ''Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland'' is a listing of gardens and designed landscapes of national artistic and/or historical significance, in Scotland. The Inventory was originally compiled in 1987, although it is a conti ...

. The grounds cover 100 acres of formal gardens and woodland, also including Castle Island on Loch Leven.

Lochleven Castle 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 (1296–1 ...

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). 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 A day spa is a business that provides a variety of services for the purpose of improving health, beauty, and relaxation through personal care treatments such as massages and facials. The number of day spas in the US almost doubled in the tw ...

Media

Kinross House was featured in the BBC TV series ''

The Country House Revealed ''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 li ...

'' (2011) and ''

How We Built Britain ''How We Built Britain'' is a series of six television documentaries produced by the BBC in 2007 and repeated in 2008. The series was written and presented by broadcaster David Dimbleby. In the series Dimbleby visits some of Britain's great histo ...

'' (2007) as well in ''Land of Hope and Glory - British Country Life''. 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.The Country House Revealed
– Marsh Court, Hampshire

References

External links

Kinross House Estate Coach House & Spa
(archived website) {{coord, 56, 12, 10.81, N, 3, 24, 34.39, W, source:nlwiki_region:GB_scale:3125_type:landmark, display=title Country houses in Perth and Kinross William Bruce buildings Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes Gardens in Perth and Kinross Category A listed buildings in Perth and Kinross Listed houses in Scotland

History

Media

References

Further reading

External links