Interior View of lift from ground floor south corridor Digital image of SU/788
SC 772665
Description Interior View of lift from ground floor south corridor Digital image of SU/788
Date 1982
Catalogue Number SC 772665
Category On-line Digital Images
Copy of SU 788
Scope and Content Elevator on ground floor, Skibo Castle, Highland This shows the entrance to the electrically-operated lift on the ground floor which is surmounted by a broken pediment with a central swag and fleur-de-lys at each side. The wallpaper also has a fleur-de-lys pattern and there is wood panelling up to dado level with a lift control panel to the right side of the doorway. In 1853, Elisha Otis invented the first powered passenger lift that had a safety device to stop the fall of the cab if the hoisting rope broke. The first elevator with an electric motor was invented by Werner von Siemens, and, by the end of the 19th century, there was widespread use of electric elevators in public buildings. The elevator at Skibo was a novelty in domestic design and would have been used by the family and their guests. The interior of the carriage has painted wood-grained walls with a bevelled mirror for passengers to check their appearance after a journey. Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919) was born in Scotland and made a fortune in the steel industry in the United States of America. Once his daughter was born he decided that she should have a Scottish home, and at the end of the 19th century he bought a large Baronial house at Skibo built in 1880 by Clarke & Bell. In addition to the £85,000 purchase price, he spent a further £2 million in the creation of an even larger mansion, constructed between 1899 and 1903 to the designs of Ross & Macbeth. In 1981 his daughter Margaret decided to sell the estate, and the castle lay empty until 1990 when Peter de Savary paid £10 million for the castle and the 2,832-hectare estate. Some £30 million was then invested in its transformation into the Carnegie Club, a private residential golf and sporting club. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.
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