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| HOME |
| THE HOUSE |
| FAMILY HISTORY |
| VISIT ARNISTON |
| LINKS PAGE |
ARCHITECTURE |
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| Robert Dundas of
Arniston (1685 - 1753) commissioned William Adam to draw up plans for
the Mansion House of Arniston in 1726. |
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At the time Dundas was Lord Advocate and eventually completed his legal career as Lord President of the Court of Session. Work started in the same year removing the Tower House, which had stood on the site from around the 1590s leaving only two rooms on the ground floor, which Adam converted, into one, The Oak Room. |
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| To the north Wardrop
& Reid added to the William Adam frontage a Victorian porch in
1872. The colonnades linking the two pavilions were heightened at
the same time to provide better access to the main part of the house
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The Main Hall at
Arniston
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The main hall is the work of William Adam with plasterwork by Joseph Enzer. It is two storeys high with giant Corinthian pilasters with vaulting supporting the rectangular ceiling. The corners contain baskets of fruit. The stuccowork is magnificently detailed with fruit, flowers, ruffled ribbons etc. |
| The west third of the house was
not completed until the 1760s by John Adam the eldest son of
William. William had intended to have sleeping apartments on the
ground floor and Staterooms up above but
instead public rooms were located on the ground floor. |
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| The Dining Room has a plain coved
ceiling above a leafy frieze. This was the work of Elizabeth
Dawson. The marble chimney piece came from one of the Dundas town houses which was in Adam Square in Edinburgh which was demolished to make way for Chambers Street. |
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| The Drawing Room has a frieze of
antique foliage and Rococo ceiling with bird life in their frondiferous
habitat. The plasterwork is by Philip Robertson who was probably
a pupil of Joseph Enzer. |
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| At the top of the house is the
William Adam library with stuccowork by Joseph Enzer and magnificent
original glass in the library doors. On the ground floor is the
new library refurnished in 1868. |
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All these rooms are included in the visit to the
house.