Dalmeny House

When Dalmeny House was completed in 1817, it marked a great departure in Scottish architecture; its Tudor Gothic style, with its highly-decorated chimneys and crenellations, looked back toward fanciful 16th-century English mansions, such as Hampton Court. The house was designed by a University friend of the 4th Earl of Rosebery, William Wilkins, who would go on to design the National Gallery in London and much of King's College, Cambridge - parts of which closely resemble Dalmeny.

With its Gothic Great Hall and corridor, its large, formal regency apartments and its sweeping views across the Firth of Forth, it is a house which combines comfort and romanticism, and which produced many imitations throughout Scotland. As one wanders through the house, each room opens up a new experience, highlighting different parts of the remarkable collection of art and objects. Yet Dalmeny House preserves the overall feeling of the family home it still is.

The Library is used by the family when entertaining, as well as by corporate and group visitors. It is a splendid yet comfortable room with beautiful views over rolling parkland leading down to the sea. This room can be considered as the birthplace of the Edinburgh Festival, the capital city's world-renowned celebration of the arts each summer.

William Wilkins designed the two-storey Entrance Hall with a decorative hammer-beam ceiling similar to the one he later created for the Hall at King's College, Cambridge. The Drawing Room contains part of the magnificent collection of French furniture from Mentmore Towers, the house built by Baron Meyer de Rothschild, whose only child Hannah married the 5th Earl of Rosebery. The Napoleon Room gathers together all the Napoleonic art and objects assembled by the 5th Earl of Rosebery - the most important Napoleonic collection outside France.

General Information:

• Disabled access and toilets
• Tea room for light refreshments
• Guided tours

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