Mellerstain House is a

stately home 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 ...

around north of Kelso in the Borders, Scotland. It is currently the home of the 14th Earl of Haddington, and is a historical monument of Scotland.

History

The older house or castle at Mellerstain included an old five-storey tower, ruinous in 1700. Mellerstain was built between 1725 and 1778. The architect William Adam initially designed the east and west wings for George Baillie (1664–1738) and his wife Lady Grisell (1665–1746), daughter of Patrick Hume, Earl of Marchmont. Work ceased after the wings were completed, and it was another 45 years before George Baillie commissioned Robert Adam to design and build the main mansion house. George was the second son of Charles, Lord Binning (1697–1732), heir to the 6th Earl of Haddington, and he inherited the Mellerstain estate when his aunt Grisell, Lady Murray, died in 1759. He had changed his name from Hamilton to Baillie as a mark of respect. The mansion house is possibly the only remaining complete building designed by Robert Adam, as most of his other works were additions to existing buildings. The Adelphi, London, in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, was a speculative neoclassical

terraced housing In architecture and city planning, a terrace or terraced house ( UK) or townhouse ( US) is a form of medium-density housing that originated in Europe in the 16th century, whereby a row of attached dwellings share side walls. In the United State ...

development by the Adam brothers but is now largely demolished, leaving Mellerstain House as an important record of Robert Adam's work. The interior is a masterpiece of delicate and colourful

plasterwork Plasterwork is construction or ornamentation done with plaster, such as a layer of plaster on an interior or exterior wall structure, or plaster Molding (decorative), decorative moldings on ceilings or walls. This is also sometimes called parge ...

, comprising a small sitting room (originally a breakfast room), a beautiful library (a double cube design), a music room (originally the dining room), the main drawing room, with original

silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the coc ...

brocade Brocade is a class of richly decorative shuttle-woven fabrics, often made in colored silks and sometimes with gold and silver threads. The name, related to the same root as the word "broccoli", comes from Italian ''broccato'' meaning "embos ...

wall coverings, a small drawing room (originally a bed chamber) and a small library (originally two dressing rooms). The main entrance hall leads to a long corridor with a staircase to the bedroom floor, from which there is a small back staircase leading to a large gallery room running north to south. Original wallpapers, hand printed in the 18th and 19th centuries, can be seen in the bedrooms. The Great Gallery displays costumes, fans, embroideries and documents.Mellerstain House publicity leaflet 2014 The house stands in 80 hectares of

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

land, with an Italianate formal

terraced garden In gardening, a terrace is an element where a raised flat paved or gravelled section overlooks a prospect. A raised terrace keeps a house dry and provides a transition between the hardscape and the softscape. History ;Persia Since a level si ...

at the rear, with a sweeping stretch of lawn descending to a lake. These gardens were designed around 1910 by Sir Reginald Blomfield.

References

External links

* {{Coord, 55.6442, -2.562, display=title Country houses in the Scottish Borders Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes Gardens in the Scottish Borders Historic house museums in the Scottish Borders Category A listed houses in Scotland Category A listed buildings in the Scottish Borders