Gartmore House
Encyclopedia
Gartmore House is a country house and estate in the village of Gartmore
Gartmore
Gartmore is a village in the Stirling council area, Scotland. It is a picturesque little village with an excellent view of the Wallace Monument in Stirling, almost 25 miles away....

, Stirling
Stirling (council area)
Stirling is one of the 32 unitary local government council areas of Scotland, and has a population of about 87,000 . It was created under the Local Government etc Act 1994 with the boundaries of the Stirling district of the former Central local government region, and it covers most of the former...

, Scotland. It was built in the mid-18th century for the Graham family on the site of an earlier house. William Adam prepared plans for Nicol Graham of Gartmore in the 1740s, but according to Historic Scotland
Historic Scotland
Historic Scotland is an executive agency of the Scottish Government, responsible for historic monuments in Scotland.-Role:As its website states:...

, it is doubtful that he designed the house as built. The house was enlarged for Nicol's son, Robert Graham of Gartmore by John Baxter Junior in 1779-80.

Gartmore became the home of Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham (1852–1936) in 1883. He was forced to sell the estate in 1900 to pay death duties. The estate was then bought by Sir Charles Cayzer
Sir Charles Cayzer, 1st Baronet
Sir Charles William Cayzer, 1st Baronet was a British businessman and Conservative Party politician. Born in Limehouse, a maritime district of London, Cayzer was the son of Charles Cayzer, a schoolmaster, and his wife Mary Elizabeth née Nicklin. At the age of fifteen Cayzer took a position as...

. It was partly redesigned by David Barclay, a student of Charles Rennie Mackintosh
Charles Rennie Mackintosh
Charles Rennie Mackintosh was a Scottish architect, designer, watercolourist and artist. He was a designer in the Arts and Crafts movement and also the main representative of Art Nouveau in the United Kingdom. He had a considerable influence on European design...

, who added the tower, altered the roof and redesigned the western front, in 1901-1902. Internally, the main stairs were relocated in the centre of the house and the staircase is substantial, timber (which Cayzer claimed came from the Spanish Armada) with balustrades and newel posts which reflect Mannerist forms.

The house was commandeered by the Army in the 1940s, and became a barracks until 1950. After the war, the Cayzer family did not take the house back and it was sold off in pieces. In 1953, the Archdiocese of Glasgow
Archdiocese of Glasgow
The Archdiocese of Glasgow was one of the thirteen dioceses of the Scottish church. It was the second largest diocese in the Kingdom of Scotland, including Clydesdale, Teviotdale, parts of Tweeddale, Liddesdale, Annandale, Nithsdale, Cunninghame, Kyle, and Strathgryfe, as well as Lennox Carrick...

 bought the house to establish St. Ninian's, a list D school run by the De La Salle Brothers
Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools
The Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools is a Roman Catholic religious teaching congregation, founded in France by Saint Jean-Baptiste de la Salle and now based in Rome...

, a Roman Catholic religious order.

Between 1983 and 1985 Gartmore House lay dormant, and was then bought by The Way in GB Ltd as a European base for The Way International
The Way International
The Way International is a non denominational Christian ministry based in New Knoxville, Ohio, with home fellowships located in the United States and in over 30 other countries. It was founded by Victor Paul Wierwille in 1942 as a radio program, and became The Chimes Hour Youth Caravan in 1947, and...

. From 1995 to 1997 Gartmore House was again empty until it was bought by Peter and Anne Sunderland in conjunction with Cloverley Hall, and became a conference and activity centre. In 2000, Cloverly Hall was bought over and Gartmore House became a charitable trust. Then, in 2004, it was joined with Carberry Tower
Carberry Tower
Carberry Tower is an historic house in East Lothian, Scotland. The house is situated off the A6124 road, south-east of Musselburgh. Carberry, like Musselburgh is in the parish of Inveresk...

 in East Lothian
East Lothian
East Lothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy Area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Scottish Borders and Midlothian. Its administrative centre is Haddington, although its largest town is Musselburgh....

. Gartmore House is now a conference centre, used by groups including schools, orchestras and religious groups. Recently, the oil fuel system was replaced by a Biomass
Biomass
Biomass, as a renewable energy source, is biological material from living, or recently living organisms. As an energy source, biomass can either be used directly, or converted into other energy products such as biofuel....

 heating system in an attempt to reduce carbon emissions. The house is a Category B listed building.
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