Mount Stuart House on the Isle of Bute is uniquely beautiful from the outside. But here, too, it’s the inner values that count. And they are unique.
Suddenly the Middle Ages were back in vogue. At a time when industrialisation was still in full swing, many wealthy people longed to return to an idealised Middle Ages. The resulting architectural style was called neo-Gothic, and this is exactly what was realised in Mount Stuart House on the Isle of Bute. Sure, I want to see that. What I don’t realise yet is that after the tour, I’ll be saying to this day that this is the most beautiful house in Scotland.
Even from the outside, the red sandstone building is impressive. But that’s nothing compared to what we see inside. The tour first takes us into the great hall, which takes my breath away.
According to the guide, there is more marble in Mount Stuart House than in any other house in Britain and even more than in the Sistine Chapel in Rome. I believe her immediately as I let my gaze wander up the hall.
But the marble also provides the canvas on which the colours from the light of the stained glass windows are reflected. There are three at the top of each side of the hall, making twelve in total. They each depict a month of the year.
The signs of the zodiac can be seen in the sky between the windows. They are embedded as small glass windows that light up when the sun shines on them.
I realise that I could spend hours in the Great Hall alone and hardly get enough of it. So many details. For example, the bronze grilles, which are barely noticeable at first glance, set between the pointed arches on the first floor – exact copies of the grilles that can be seen on Charlemagne’s tomb in Aachen, the guide tells me. The architect drew much of his inspiration from his travels in Europe.
Of course, rooms also lead off from the hall. For example, the Drawing Room, the parlour of the house, with its eye-catching mirror above the fireplace.
On the ceiling, the owner of the house makes his aristocratic origins visible to his guests. The family tree is skilfully carved above our heads.
It is also worth taking a look at the pillars, as there are small animals in the leaf ornaments at the ends of the pillars.
The next room is a library. Here you can see a beautiful old clock and a bust of Robert the Bruce.
You might overlook something small and important among these large objects: the three books. These are the Shakespeare First Folio, a collection of the famous poet’s plays published seven years after his death. A similar edition was sold at auction in 2003 for 3.5 million pounds.
The guide then leads the group back through the hall and to the staircase. It too is astonishing, because even the handrails, which are set into the wall, are made of marble.
At the top are the bedrooms and bathrooms. And even these are brilliant. In addition to a shower cubicle – a real innovation in the Victorian era – my favourite feature is the bath with a view.
They even had a bidet back then.
On the outside, the neo-Gothic style harks back to an idealised Middle Ages, but inside Mount Stuart House, the latest technology was ticking away. The hot water pipes, for example. Mount Stuart was also the first house in Scotland to be lit by electric lighting.
Technology prevailed, but the builder, the 3rd Marquess of Bute, also believed in astrology. This is clearly and fantastically evident in the Astrological Bedroom, where the lord of the castle had the constellation of the stars at his birth immortalised.
And of course the motif of Gothic pointed arches on columns is repeated here too. This time they open up the passageway to a Victorian conservatory.
Incidentally, this was also used as an operating theatre due to its good lighting.
The chairs in the room show just how crude the mix of styles is. They refer to ancient Egyptian mythologies. But they are no less beautiful.
But this was not even His Highness’s bedroom. It looked even more magnificent, especially because of its golden ceiling.
On the other hand, the furniture was almost plain and reminiscent of Art Nouveau.
All these rooms are connected by enchantingly beautiful corridors.
With so much luxury and a belief in astrology, the Marquess of Bute surely couldn’t have been a devout Christian, could he? Yes, he was, and his ambition led him to build a chapel to rival Rome.
Light and windows also play a central role here. When the sun shines, the chapel is a soft pink colour, created by the ceiling lights.
The tour finally ends, but the lady remains nearby to answer questions, which she is happy to do. From now on, we can take another look at all the rooms in peace (and take photos at our leisure).
However, I first want to go outside to digest all the colourful and stylistic impressions. I take a look at the façade and walk round the lawn in front of the house.
Then I take some time to revisit all the rooms in the house. If you visit Mount Stuart and really want to see it, you need time. Half a day is almost not enough. There is an extensive park surrounding the house, through which it takes a good quarter of an hour to reach the entrance to the grounds. Shuttle buses run here every few minutes. However, you should at least walk in one direction and visit the gardens with the greenhouse, for example.
Almost 20 permanent and volunteer gardeners and their helpers look after the plants and forests on the site.
At the end, I also board the shuttle bus that takes me back to the entrance building and the car park.
I am still digesting the impressions in the house. The rooms are luxurious, gaudy and lavishly furnished. And yet I don’t find anything about the house kitschy or overloaded. It impresses me, perhaps even overwhelms me a little, but remains stylish, elegant and innovative for its time.
In short: I have found the most beautiful house in Scotland here.
Knowledge: The builders of Mount Stuart House
John Crichton-Stuart, born in 1847, was the 3rd Marquess of Bute. He inherited the fortune, the lands and the title when he was just six months old. He soon became interested in faith and the occult, which was also reflected in the house. At the age of 21, he did something unusual for society at the time: he converted to Catholicism.
Stuart was a scholar and philanthropist. And he was interested in architecture. He and Robert Rowand Anderson were the masterminds who built Mount Stuart House from 1878. When John Crichton-Stuart died in 1900, the house was not yet finished – and it still isn’t today. Some of the columns are not decorated like the others.
Tip: The Mount Stuart House and art
Mount Stuart endeavours not to remain stuck in the past. Time and again, it also provides a home for modern art. Suddenly, there are structures within the old walls that seem deliberately out of place. For example, in the crypt of the chapel.
If that doesn’t appeal to you, the house also has a few old masters on display in the Bute Collection – and what a collection they are! Rubens is just one example.
By the way: It’s also worth taking a look at the details in this room …
How to get there:
With satnav: enter “PA20 9LR” and off you go.
Without satnav: From Bute’s main town Rothesay, where the ferries dock, take the route south along the promenade. From the ferry, turn left onto the A844. Shortly after the road heads inland away from the sea, you will see a brown sign for Mount Stuart House. The entrance is clearly visible to the left of the road. Drive behind it to the car park in front of the visitor centre.