Caroline Park

About this place

Caroline Park House stands on the shore of the Firth of Forth at Granton, on the edge of Edinburgh.

Built between 1683 and 1696 for Sir George Mackenzie, 1st Viscount Tarbat, the quadrangular mansion was originally known as Royston and raised by many of the same craftsmen then working on the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

Its French-influenced south front and rare Renaissance interiors survive from an era when Presbyterian Scotland had little appetite for such display.

Historic Houses lists the property, and visits take the form of a private tour led by a member of the owning family, followed by afternoon tea.

History

The estate was purchased in 1739 by John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll, who renamed it Caroline Park after his daughter and added classical decorative schemes to the interior. Through the 19th and early 20th centuries the surrounding parkland was given over to industry, hosting the Edinburgh and Leith Gas Corporation, an early electric motorcar factory, and Texaco oil storage, before a 1934 fire damaged the south range during its use as a printing ink works. The house has been in the hands of its present family for the last four decades, during which the building and part of its formal garden have been restored.

Architecture

A medieval core lies beneath the later, more elaborate south facade commissioned by Sir George Mackenzie, and the house is protected as a category A listed building for this French-influenced elevation and its intact internal features. Surviving interiors include Baltic pine panelling, plasterwork attributed to Dunsterfield or Baine, and panel paintings by the Huguenot artist Nicolas Heude.

Worth knowing

The grounds later hosted an early electric motorcar factory before the house itself became a printing ink works, an unusual industrial interlude for a Renaissance mansion. Its 17th-century decoration also reflects the influence of Huguenot craftsmen who settled in Britain after fleeing religious persecution in France.

Gardens & grounds

A reduced portion of the original parterre garden survives, said to include the first bowling green in Scotland along with several rare ornamental trees.

Facilities