History of Mellerstain

Mellerstain is one of the great houses of Scotland and its history has been entangled with national history for nearly five hundred years.

Begun in 1725 and finally completed in 1778, this grand stately home has a fascinating history and is of unique architectural interest; the result of a fruitful collaboration between the Baillie family and two of Scotland’s greatest architects, William Adam and his son Robert. This beautiful Georgian mansion house is a unique example of Adam design and presents an enthralling and complete picture, just as it would have been some 240 years ago.

First mentioned in 1437, the estate was granted by Royal Charter to George Baillie in 1642. His descendant, George Baillie and his wife, Lady Grisell Baillie, commissioned William Adam to build a new house on the site of an old peel tower. William Adam’s design of the mansion with two wings and linking central block was only partially completed with the building of two wings. For some forty years the East Wing was used as the family residence, the West as servants’ quarters and stables.

In 1759, George Baillie, grandson of the previous, inherited the estate. As a young man in 1745 he set off on the ‘Grand Tour’ returning to Scotland with enthusiasm for current architectural taste. In 1770 he commissioned Robert Adam, the doyen of architectural design in Britain at that time, to link the two wings of the incomplete house.

The new ‘castle style’ house was completed by Adam in 1778, each room strategically placed to maximise the amount of available sunlight and appreciation of the natural landscape and to best display his contrasting colour and plasterwork schemes. The Robert Adam interiors display exquisitely proportioned rooms embellished with classical plasterwork decoration, preserved in the original colours.

To this day, Mellerstain is famously celebrated as one of Robert Adam’s finest works and is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful houses in the country.

William Adam was commissioned by George Baillie of Jerviswood to design a new house in 1725. There had been an earlier house on the site before William Adam was involved, but this was demolished to make way for his design. The original drawings for this design show a restrained Palladian mansion with two wings and a linking central block. This house was designed with dressed stone voussoirs and quoins only. The general wall surfaces were intended to be harled on rough undressed coursed stone, presumably a cost saving measure.

The work on William Adam’s design started in 1725, but came to a halt after the two wings were constructed. For some forty years the East Wing was used as the residence of the family and the West as stables and servants’ quarters.

After returning from his “Grand Tour”, George Baillie (grandson of the previous) came back to Scotland imbued with an enthusiasm for and a knowledge of current architectural taste. In 1770 it was this George who was to commission Robert Adam to design a new house.

The main design problem Adam had to resolve was to link the two wings of the incomplete house his father had begun in a coherent architectural style. The position of the wings, determined by William Adam’s design, set the scale, orientation and location on site of the proposed new building.

This is an early design by Adam in his ‘Castle Style’. The house was completed by Robert Adam in 1778, each room strategically placed to maximise the amount of available sunlight and appreciation of the natural landscape and to best display his contrasting colour and plasterwork schemes. The interiors display exquisitely proportioned rooms embellished with classical plasterwork decoration, preserved in the original colours.

Lady Grisell Baillie is probably the most important character in the whole story, from her top secret and courageous mission as a child to her important commentary on social history. Lady Grisell certainly played a pivotal role in the Mellerstain journey and her legacy provides a fascinating insight into every aspect of daily life in an 18th century Scottish country house to this day.

In 1725 George Baillie commissioned William Adam to complete the East and West Wings but George died in 1738, leaving his widow Grisell and two daughters. But as well as being beautiful and accomplished, Lady Grisell Baillie (as she was called after her father’s elevation to the peerage) was also well organised and practical and an excellent household manager.

She kept strict accounts for her household, noting every expense for many years. A number of these fascinating volumes are collectively known as Lady Grisell’s ‘Household Accounts’.