Kinross House
Encyclopedia
Kinross House is a late 17th-century country house overlooking Loch Leven
, near Kinross
in Perth and Kinross
, Scotland
. Construction of the house was begun in 1686, by the architect Sir William Bruce
as his own home. It is regarded as one of his finest works, and was called by Daniel Defoe
"the most beautiful and regular piece of Architecture in Scotland". The house, which is undoubtedly the most important early classical mansion in Scotland
, retains most of its original internal decoration. It was occupied as a family home until 2010, when it was sold, and planning permission was sought to convert the building into a hotel.
Kinross House is also notable in its precocious use of a medieval building as focus, as the house itself, and its garden avenue, are deliberately orientated on the 'picturesque' object of 14th century Loch Leven Castle
on an island in the adjacent loch.
Kinross House was featured in the BBC TV series The Country House Revealed
(2011) and How We Built Britain
(2007).
Loch Leven
Loch Leven is a fresh water loch in Perth and Kinross council area, central Scotland.Roughly triangular, the loch is about 6 km at its longest. The burgh of Kinross lies at its western end. Loch Leven Castle lies on an island a short way offshore...
, near Kinross
Kinross
Kinross is a burgh in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It was formerly the county town of Kinross-shire.Kinross is a fairly small town, with some attractive buildings...
in Perth and Kinross
Perth and Kinross
Perth and Kinross is one of 32 council areas in Scotland, and a Lieutenancy Area. It borders onto the Aberdeenshire, Angus, Dundee City, Fife, Clackmannanshire, Stirling, Argyll and Bute and Highland council areas. Perth is the administrative centre...
, 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...
. Construction of the house was begun in 1686, by the architect Sir William Bruce
William Bruce (architect)
Sir William Bruce of Kinross, 1st Baronet was a Scottish gentleman-architect, "the effective founder of classical architecture in Scotland," as Howard Colvin observes...
as his own home. It is regarded as one of his finest works, and was called by Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe , born Daniel Foe, was an English trader, writer, journalist, and pamphleteer, who gained fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe. Defoe is notable for being one of the earliest proponents of the novel, as he helped to popularise the form in Britain and along with others such as Richardson,...
"the most beautiful and regular piece of Architecture in Scotland". The house, which is undoubtedly the most important early classical mansion in 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...
, retains most of its original internal decoration. It was occupied as a family home until 2010, when it was sold, and planning permission was sought to convert the building into a hotel.
Kinross House is also notable in its precocious use of a medieval building as focus, as the house itself, and its garden avenue, are deliberately orientated on the 'picturesque' object of 14th century Loch Leven Castle
Loch Leven Castle
Loch Leven Castle is a ruined castle on an island in Loch Leven, in the Perth and Kinross local authority area of Scotland. Possibly built around 1300, the castle was the location military action during the Wars of Scottish Independence...
on an island in the adjacent loch.
Kinross House was featured in the BBC TV series The Country House Revealed
The Country House Revealed
The Country House Revealed is a six part BBC series first aired on BBC Two in May 2011 in which British architectural historian Dan Cruickshank visits six houses never before open to public view, and examines the lives of the families who lived there....
(2011) and How We Built Britain
How We Built Britain
How We Built Britain was a series of six television documentaries produced by the BBC in 2007 and repeated in 2008. The series was written and presented by broadcaster David Dimbleby...
(2007).
External links
- Kinross House and Gardens (archived website)