History of the House 1735 - Present
Much was to happen before the name Haddington was finally linked to Mellerstain.
Charles, Lord Binning, died in 1735, and his son Thomas ultimately succeeded
as 7th Earl, but it was the younger son, George, who in 1759 succeeded
to the estates of Mellerstain and assumed the name of Baillie. So we have
another George Baillie and it is he who was the builder of the main part
of the house we know.
George Baillie had become imbued with the classical taste on the Grand Tour. The latest refinement of this taste, in the second half of the eighteenth century, was represented by Robert Adam, the most fashionable architect of his day, and the other sons of the old William Adam, who, as we have seen, had already begun to rebuild Mellerstain. George Baillie resolved to employ him for the completion of his house. Robert Adam's influence is apparent in the plan of the house with its bold projection of the centre on the north front and the contrasting flat facade to the south, and the interior is almost wholly his work. The library with its bookcases and green and white marble mantlepiece is entirely Robert Adam, and the ceiling, dated 1770 is considered to be one of his masterpieces. Another splendid ceiling, dated three years later and decorated with eagles and sphinxes, is in the Music Room, once the Dining Room, in the centre of the garden front.
Fortunately nothing has been done by later owners to change the house as it was completed by George Baillie, but in the time of Lord Binning, eldest son of the 11th Earl of Haddington, Sir Reginald Blomfield was commissioned in 1909 to transform the slope which fell from the house to the lake at the foot of the hill into a series of garden terraces. This Lord Binning, grandfather of the present Earl, was the grandson of George Baillie-Hamilton who in 1858 succeeded his second cousin as Earl of Haddington. George Baillie-Hamilton was himself the grandson of the builder of the house. From that day the earldom of Haddington and the estate of Mellerstain have been united, and Mellerstain still proudly stands, a monument to the fine taste of our forebears.
