Carradale House is a Grade B listed mansion house near

Carradale Carradale (, ) is a village on the east side of the Kintyre Peninsula, overlooking the Kilbrannan Sound and the west coast of the Isle of Arran in the Firth of Clyde, approximately from Campbeltown. To the north of Carradale is the coastal p ...

Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute (; , ) is one of 32 unitary authority, unitary council areas of Scotland, council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod ...

, Scotland. Built in the 17th century, the house was extended in 1844 for Richard Campbell and was designed by

David Bryce David Bryce Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, FRSE FRIBA Royal Scottish Academy, RSA (3 April 1803 – 7 May 1876) was a Scotland, Scottish architect. Life Bryce was born at 5 South College Street in Edinburgh, the son of David B ...

and

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 ...

. In 1861 Colonel David Carrick Robert Carrick-Buchanan JP DL KCB (1825-1904) of the Buchanans of Drumpellier, Lanarkshire acquired the estate. On 18 November 1869 the ''

Edinburgh Evening Courant The ''Edinburgh Courant'' was a broadsheet newspaper from the 18th century. It was published out of Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland. Its first issue was dated 14–19 February 1705 and was sold for a penny. It was Scotland's first regional newspa ...

'' reported that

An Eye-Witness writes:- About forty years ago, a whale came on shore on the coast of Kintyre, at a small bay near Carradale, measuring 94 feet long. The jawbones now form a gateway at Carradale House, so high that I think a moderately-heaped hay-cart could easily pass through, though the bones are stuck in the ground sufficiently far to support them. Carradale then belonged, oddly enough, to Mr Campbell, a cousin to the Earl of Wemyss.

The estate came up for sale in 1935 when it was described as follows:

Carradale is situated in Kintyre, on the shores of the Kilbrannan Sound, 15 miles from Campbeltown. The lands are among the most important in the county extending to 15,000 acres and including ten farms, the village of Carradale, pier, 63 small houses and shops and yacht anchorage, &c. Carradale House is a comfortable moderate-sized residence. The gardens are noted for their display of rhodedendrons. Both banks of the whole of the Carradale River are included in the translation. There are salmon and sea trout, netting rights, and excellent pheasant, grouse, black game, woodcock and snipe shooting. In addition there are large rabbit warrens…. Estate feu-duties of over £256 per annum secured on modern cottage property, and there are also valuable feuing sites available without interfering with the amenity of the estate. The annual rental is £2,517 ),with small burdens.

Dick Mitchison, Baron Mitchison and his wife

Naomi Mitchison Naomi Mary Margaret Mitchison, Baroness Mitchison (; 1 November 1897 – 11 January 1999) was a List of Scottish novelists, Scottish novelist and poet. Often called a doyenne of Scottish literature, she wrote more than 90 books of historical an ...

bought the house in 1938 and she lived there until her death in 1999. A fire in October 1947 at the house destroyed the electricity generating plant which supplied the house, estate cottages, and the village hall. A second fire in 1969 destroyed the courtyard to the north of the house. This was later rebuilt.

Notes

References

*Newton, Norman. Kintyre, David & Charles, 2008. {{ISBN, 978-0-7153-2888-0 Buildings and structures in Argyll and Bute Category B listed buildings in Argyll and Bute