Trumland is a Category B listed

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

and associated estate on

Rousay Rousay (, sco, Rousee; non, Hrólfsey meaning Rolf's Island) is a small, hilly island about north of Mainland, the largest island in the Orkney Islands of Scotland. It has been nicknamed "Egypt of the north", due to its archaeological diversit ...

, in Orkney, Scotland, built in its present form in the 1870s. Designed by

David Bryce David Bryce FRSE FRIBA RSA (3 April 1803 – 7 May 1876) was a Scottish architect. Life Bryce was born at 5 South College Street in Edinburgh, the son of David Bryce (1763–1816) a grocer with a successful side interest in buildi ...

(1803–1876), the house was commissioned by Sir F W Traill-Burroughs (1831–1905) as a new family home after his marriage to Eliza D’Oyly Geddes (1849–1908) in 1870.

Description

Overlooking the sound between Rousay and the island of Wyre, the house is built in the Scottish Jacobean style, with

crow-stepped gable A stepped gable, crow-stepped gable, or corbie step is a stairstep type of design at the top of the triangular gable-end of a building. The top of the parapet wall projects above the roofline and the top of the brick or stone wall is stacked in ...

s and canted windows, made from the local Rousay stone, with fine carved finials and architectural detailing. The house is three stories high with an attic, gable windows and dormers creating a fourth story. The house utilized the first and second stories as the principal living and sleeping quarters for the owners, the majority of the ground floor and attics were made over to management of the house and estate. The first owner's initials, F.W.T.B,and his wife's initial's E.D.G and the date 1873 are carved on a panel above the front door.

History

Trumland was built to replace Westness House for General Sir Frederick W. Trail-Burroughs (1831-1905), who inherited Rousay and Wyre from his grand-uncle George W. Traill. Westness House, circa 1850, was the home of the Traill family on Rousay until 1863. Traill-Burroughs hired architect,

, in 1870 to build a new, larger family home after Traill-Burrough's marriage to Eliza D’Oyly Geddes on 4 June 1870. Traill-Burroughs and his wife chose a sheltered location for the site of the new house in a small valley through which a

burn A burn is an injury to skin, or other tissues, caused by heat, cold, electricity, chemicals, friction, or ultraviolet radiation (like sunburn). Most burns are due to heat from hot liquids (called scalding), solids, or fire. Burns occur mainl ...

(stream) flows down to the sea. The new house was constructed between 1872 and 1873. Building costs were originally estimated to be £3,000, but the overall costs expanded to nearly £12,000 by the end of the project. Traill-Burroughs unsuccessfully tried to sell the Rousay estate, including both Westness House and Trumland House – beginning in 1889. He died in 1905. Trumland passed from the Traill-Burroughs family in the 1920s, and was later purchased by the Grant family of

Grant's Grant's is a blended Scotch whisky, produced by the company William Grant & Sons in Scotland. History In 1886, William Grant started working in the distillery business as a bookkeeper. In 1898, Pattison's, the largest Scotch whisky blende ...

whisky, and was used as the summer residence for Mr Walter Grant, who also owned Highland Park whisky in

Kirkwall Kirkwall ( sco, Kirkwaa, gd, Bàgh na h-Eaglaise, nrn, Kirkavå) is the largest town in Orkney, an archipelago to the north of mainland Scotland. The name Kirkwall comes from the Norse name (''Church Bay''), which later changed to ''Kirkv ...

, Orkney. Trumland was later sold again, and passed through a series of owners until a fire on 4 April 1985 caused the house considerable damage, leaving the property roofless and with the upper floors and principal rooms seriously damaged or destroyed. After re-roofing in 1985 the house was again sold, and passed un-restored through a series of owners until purchased by the present owners in 2002, who are restoring the house and gardens to its previous form.

References

{{coord, 59, 8, 0, N, 2, 59, 32, W, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Category B listed buildings in Orkney Listed houses in Scotland Country houses in Orkney Royal Society for the Protection of Birds reserves in Scotland Rousay