Mount Stuart House, on the east coast of the Isle of Bute, Scotland, is a country house built in the Gothic Revival style and the ancestral home of the Marquesses of Bute. It was designed by Sir Robert Rowand Anderson for John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute in the late 1870s, replacing an earlier house by Alexander McGill, which burnt down in 1877. The house is a Category A listed building.

Background

The house is the seat of the Stuarts of Bute, derived from the hereditary office "Steward of Bute" held since 1157. The family are male-line descendants of John Stewart, the illegitimate son of King Robert II of Scotland, the first Stuart King, by his mistress, Moira Leitch. By virtue of this descent, they are also descendants of Robert the Bruce, whose daughter Marjorie was mother of Robert II by her marriage to Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland.

History

The original house was built in 1719 for James Stuart, 2nd Earl of Bute, but was rebuilt for John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute following a fire on 3 December 1877.

The house holds the Bute Collection, a private collection of artwork and artefacts. The Collection also houses archives, books, furniture, and silverwork reflecting the interests of the Bute family's various generations, including 25,000 books on topics including theology, botany, agriculture and Scottish history and literature. In April 2016 it was announced that a Shakespeare First Folio had been discovered in the House's Library. The folio had belonged to Isaac Reed.

The house is open to the public.

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Mount Stuart House, Isle of Bute - west view.jpg|West front, showing one of the wings surviving from the previous house

Mount Stuart House marble hall 2018-08-25.jpg|Marble Hall

Mount Stuart House horoscope room 2018-08-25.jpg|Horoscope Room

Mount Stuart House swimming pool 2018-08-25 1.jpg|Swimming pool

Mount Stuart House chapel 2018-08-25 3.jpg|alt=Chapel, Mount Stuart House|Chapel interior

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Notes

References

Further reading

  • Stamp, Gavin (1981). Robert Weir Schultz, Architect, and His Work for the Marquesses of Bute: An Essay.
  • Mount Stuart House & Gardens website