Back in May, I took you guys on a photo tour of the spectacularly beautiful grounds at Lauriston Castle. I want to revisit Lauriston with you today. Only this time, we are going to explore the beautiful Edwardian interior, decorated and designed by the Lauriston’s final owners, Mr. William Robert Reid, his wife Mrs. Margaret Johnstone Reid, and Mrs. Reid’s brother, Mr. William Barton.
Mr. C and I visited Lauriston for the second time in March 2017. It is one of our favorites, so no trip to Edinburgh will now ever be complete without paying a visit to this lovely place. We were thrilled to be able to take a guided tour of several of the castle’s main rooms. Our docent was excellent and was a wealth of knowledge of the castle’s history, from the first construction in the sixteenth century until the passing of Mrs. Reid in 1926. I think that if I lived in Edinburgh, I would want that job!
To recap a little of Lauriston’s history…
Lauriston’s tower house was built by Sir Archibald Napier sometime around 1593 and the pretty Jacobean-style extension was added in 1827. Over the centuries, the castle passed through numerous hands until it came into the possession of its final owners – William and Margaret Reid. The Reids acquired the property in 1902 and lived there until Mrs. Reid’s death in 1926. Because the couple had no children, they left the castle to the city of Edinburgh under the condition that it be preserved unchanged. And so the promise was kept. The remarkable Edwardian interior, filled to the brim with their fine furniture and artwork, is now a museum maintained by the city. For a nominal fee, you can take a guided tour of this home (uh, castle) which remains exactly as it was at the time of the Reids. The manicured grounds, which boast a view of the sea and a stunning Japanese garden are a real bargain – free! Lauriston truly is a gem in Edinburgh. –from my previous post on Lauriston Castle
Well, are you ready to step inside and see what a 425-year-old castle clothed in 100-year-old decor looks like? Great. Follow me, friends.
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Those who are acquainted with me and Mr. C know that we are quite fond of gardens. For those who aren’t, I must confess that we (or is it just him?) are also a bit…well…ambitious. You know the phrase go big or go home? Sometimes I think we invented that phrase.
Nearly ten years ago, Mr. C and his trusty Kubota tractor took down a large, somewhat problematic tree behind our house. The removal of the tree and its massive root ball left us with a rather unsightly, gaping hole. Ever the visionary and enjoyer of manly projects, Mr. C had the brilliant idea to construct a pond/rock garden where the tree had previously stood. But in typical go big or go home fashion, the project did not end there. One pond quickly became two. Then three. Then four. What we have today, nearly a decade later, are three smaller ponds that connect via rocky streams into a larger pond. What my husband has built is quite extraordinary.
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