Dalmeny House

Dalmeny House, Edinburgh
Photo © Ronnie Leask, 22 December 2008

Sir Archibald Primrose acquired Dalmeny estate in 1662 and took up residence at Barnbougle Castle on the estate by the shores of the Forth. The family prospering his son was created Earl of Rosebery in 1703. In 1814 seeking a grander home the 3rd Earl employed the architect William Wilkins. This, Dalmeny House, Tudor Gothic in style, was completed in 1817 and remains the home of the Earls of Rosebery. Best known of the family was the 5th Earl, Prime Minister in the 1890's. He was also a keen racehorse breeder owning 3 Derby winners.

Dalmeny House, is a Gothic revival mansion, designed by William Wilkins, and completed in 1817. The house and surrounding estate are located close to Dalmeny on the Firth of Forth, to the north-west of Edinburgh, Scotland. Dalmeny House is the home of the Earl and Countess of Rosebery. The house was the first in Scotland to be built in the "Tudor revival" style. It provided more comfortable accommodation than the former ancestral residence, Barnbougle Castle, which still stands close by.

Dalmeny today remains a private house, although it is open to the public during the summer months. In contrast to the exterior, most of the principal rooms are in the Regency style, with the exception of the hammerbeam roof of the hall. The house contains many paintings and items of furniture from both the Rosebery and Rothschild collections, as a result of the 5th Earl's marriage to Hannah, daughter and heir of Meyer de Rothschild. Much of the French furniture and porcelain came from the family's English mansion, Mentmore, Buckinghamshire, following the latter's sale in 1977. Dalmeny also holds one of Britain's largest collections of Napoleonia. The house sits in a large wooded park, and enjoys views of the Forth coastline. A public path runs along the shore, from Queensferry in the west, to Cramond in the east, although a passenger ferry at Cramond has not operated since 2000.