Carstairs House, also known as Monteith House, is a country house south-west of

Carstairs Carstairs (, Scottish Gaelic: ''Caisteal Tarrais'') is a village in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. Carstairs is located east of the county town of Lanark and the West Coast Main Line runs through the village. The village is served by Carstairs ra ...

South Lanarkshire gd, Siorrachd Lannraig a Deas , image_skyline = , image_flag = , image_shield = Arms_slanarkshire.jpg , image_blank_emblem = Slanarks.jpg , blank_emblem_type = Council logo , image_map ...

, Scotland. The house is protected as a

category A listed building Category, plural categories, may refer to: Philosophy and general uses *Categorization, categories in cognitive science, information science and generally *Category of being *Categories (Aristotle), ''Categories'' (Aristotle) *Category (Kant) ...

History

Carstairs House was designed by the Edinburgh architect

William Burn William Burn (20 December 1789 – 15 February 1870) was a Scottish architect. He received major commissions from the age of 20 until his death at 81. He built in many styles and was a pioneer of the Scottish Baronial Revival,often referred t ...

and built for

Henry Monteith Henry Monteith of Carstairs (1764–1848) was a Scottish businessman and Tory politician who twice served as Lord Provost of Glasgow from 1814 to 1816 and 1818 to 1820, and as MP for Linlithgow 1820 to 1826 and 1830 to 1831. Life He was ...

MP between 1821 and 1823. It then passed to his son Robert Monteith, and on his death to

Joseph Monteith Joseph Dunsmore Monteith (June 2, 1865 – January 8, 1934) was an Ontario MLA for Perth North from 1923 to 1934. He was treasurer from 1926 to 1930 and Minister of Labour, Public Works and Highways from 1930 to 1934. Monteith, a physician ...

, who built a hydroelectric plant at nearby Jarviswood, and the

Carstairs House Tramway The Carstairs House Tramway operated between Carstairs railway station and Carstairs House between 1888 and 1895. History The tramway was built by Joseph Monteith who owned Carstairs House Carstairs House, also known as Monteith House, is ...

to transport guests and family to and from

Carstairs railway station , symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = Carstairs3.jpg , caption = North end (Glasgow end) of the station , borough = Carstairs, South Lanarkshire , country = Sco ...

. It was purchased by

Sir James King Sir James King, 1st Baronet, Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, FRSE (13 July 1830 – 1 October 1911) was a Scottish businessman who served as Lord Provost of Glasgow 1886 to 1889. He was Director of the Clydesdale Bank for over forty ...

, the former

Lord Provost of Glasgow The Right Honourable Lord Provost of Glasgow is the convener of the Glasgow City Council. Elected by the city councillors, the Lord Provost serves not only as the chair of that body, but as a figurehead for the entire city. The office is equiv ...

in 1899. In 1924 Carstairs House was acquired the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Glasgow The Archdiocese of Glasgow ( la, Archidioecesis Glasguensis) is the metropolitan see of the Province of Glasgow in the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland. The episcopal seat of the developing diocese was established by Saint Kentigern in the 6t ...

who had selected it as base for the St Charles' Certified Institution for "mentally defective Catholic children". The children arrived there in 1925. The institution, which was staffed by

Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul The Company of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul ( la, Societas Filiarum Caritatis a Sancto Vincentio de Paulo), commonly called the Daughters of Charity or Sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent De Paul, is a Society of Apostoli ...

, closed in 1983. The house re-opened as a nursing home known as Monteith House (named after its original owner) in 1986 and, after a temporary closure between 2009 and 2011, re-opened again.Carluke and Lanark Gazette, 15 July 2011

References

{{authority control Category A listed buildings in South Lanarkshire Country houses in South Lanarkshire Houses completed in 1823 Nursing homes in the United Kingdom Former psychiatric hospitals in Scotland Defunct hospitals in Scotland Carstairs