Kinmount House is a 19th-century country house in Dumfries and Galloway

Dumfries and Galloway

Dumfries and Galloway is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland. It was one of the nine administrative 'regions' of mainland Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government etc. Act 1973...

, south Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. It is located 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) west of Annan

Annan, Dumfries and Galloway

The royal burgh of Annan is a well-built town, red sandstone being the material mainly used. Each year in July, Annan celebrates the Royal Charter and the boundaries of the Royal Burgh are confirmed when a mounted cavalcade undertakes the Riding of the Marches. Entertainment includes a...

 in the parish of Cummertrees

Cummertrees

Cummertrees is a coastal village and parish of Annandale in Dumfries and Galloway. It lies about a mile inland, on the Pow Water, twelve miles from Dumfries, and three from Annan.-History:...

. The house was designed by Sir Robert Smirke

Robert Smirke (architect)

Sir Robert Smirke was an English architect, one of the leaders of Greek Revival architecture his best known building in that style is the British Museum, though he also designed using other architectural styles...

 for the Marquess of Queensberry

Marquess of Queensberry

Marquess of Queensberry is a title in the peerage of Scotland. The title has been held since its creation in 1682 by a member of the Douglas family...

, and completed in 1820. It is protected as a category A listed building, and the grounds are included on the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland

Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland

The Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland is a listing of gardens and designed landscapes of national artistic and/or historical significance, in Scotland. The Inventory was originally compiled in 1987, although it is a continually evolving list...

.

History

The lands of Kinmount were granted to the Carlyle family in the 13th century, and acquired by William Douglas, 1st Earl of Queensberry, in 1633. The 4th Duke of Queensberry

William Douglas, 4th Duke of Queensberry

William Douglas, 4th Duke of Queensberry KT was a Scottish nobleman.Born in Peebles, Queensberry was the only son of William Douglas, 2nd Earl of March, and his wife, Lady Anne Hamilton....

 carried out extensive planting on the estate in the late 18th century. On his death in 1810 Kinmount passed to Charles Douglas, 6th Marquess of Queensberry

Charles Douglas, 6th Marquess of Queensberry

Charles Douglas, 6th Marquess of Queensberry, KT was a Scottish peer.Douglas was the first son and heir of Sir William Douglas, Bt, and his wife, Grace, née Johnstone. He inherited his father's baronetcy in 1783...

, who commissioned a new house from the English architect Sir Robert Smirke

Robert Smirke (architect)

Sir Robert Smirke was an English architect, one of the leaders of Greek Revival architecture his best known building in that style is the British Museum, though he also designed using other architectural styles...

. The Greek Revival

Greek Revival architecture

The Greek Revival was an architectural movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in Northern Europe and the United States. A product of Hellenism, it may be looked upon as the last phase in the development of Neoclassical architecture...

 house was built between 1813 and 1820, with Smirke's assistant William Burn

William Burn

William Burn was a Scottish architect, pioneer of the Scottish Baronial style.He was born in Edinburgh, the son of architect Robert Burn, and educated at the Royal High School. After training with the architect of the British Museum, Sir Robert Smirke, he returned to Edinburgh in 1812...

 acting as executant architect. The stonemason was John Park, and stone was brought from Cove quarry near Kirkpatrick-Fleming

Kirkpatrick-Fleming

Kirkpatrick-Fleming is a village in Dumfries and Galloway, south-west Scotland. It is located around north-west of Gretna, and west of Annan, between the Kirtle Water and the A74 motorway....

.

In 1896 John Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry

John Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry

John Sholto Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry GCVO was a Scottish nobleman, remembered for lending his name and patronage to the "Marquess of Queensberry rules" that formed the basis of modern boxing, for his outspoken atheism, and for his role in the downfall of author and playwright Oscar...

, sold Kinmount to Edward Brook, a wealthy English industrialist who had bought the adjacent Hoddom Castle

Hoddom Castle

Hoddom Castle is a large tower house in Dumfries and Galloway, south Scotland. It is located by the River Annan, south-west of Ecclefechan and the same distance north-west of Brydekirk in the parish of Cummertrees...

estate in the 1870s. Brook commissioned alterations and extensions to the house from Dumfries architects James Barbour and J. M. Bowie. These included the roof balustrades and urns, and the service court to the north-west. The house was used as a hospital during both the First and Second World Wars. The house is now owned by Kinmount Leisure Ltd, which rents out holiday accommodation with access to outdoor sports. The Kinmount and Hoddom estates are owned by the Brook family trust.