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Mount Stuart is a large, imposing stately home on the east coast of the Isle of Bute, and one of the world's more remarkable houses.
The majority of this house was designed by Sir Robert Rowand Anderson for the 3rd Marquess of Bute (1847-1900) in the late 1870s, replacing an earlier house which had mostly burnt down in a disastrous fire on 3rd December 1877. Two wings from this earlier (1719) house survive and are in a restrained Georgian style contrasting with the flamboyant High Victorian Gothic of the 'new' house.
No expense was spared in the creation of this architectural tour-de-force with marble and stained glass abounding in the interior along with finely carved wooden panels and sculptured stonework. It also contains many valuable objects and furniture. As the HES listing says "Throughout, luxury is taken to extremes".
Probably the two most remarkable rooms of the house are the Central Hall and the Marble Chapel. The former with its celestial ceiling and lit by 12 excellently rendered stained glass signs of the Zodiac. The private chapel has white marble-lined walls and a crimson-glazed octagonal tower modelled on Saragossa Cathedral.

The house is set in 670* acres (283ha) of designed gardens which are considered of outstanding importance for several criteria - see Link

The house is, not surprisingly, Category 'A' listed: Link
Also listed Category 'A' is the mausoleum on the north-eastern boundary: Link
The grounds also contain several Category 'B' and 'C' features.

Own website (with visitor information): Link
Canmore: Link

*Note: The HES listing for the garden quotes the 670 acres mentioned above, whereas their own website claims just 300 acres. Making a quick measurement on the defra.magic website comes up with an area of the estate of c.725 acres (293ha) - so perhaps the 300 acres just refers to 'managed' gardens excluding wilder or farmed areas of the estate.

Created: Mon, 25 Jul 2022, Updated: Mon, 25 Jul 2022