Architecture Notes
Event ID 856610
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Architecture Notes
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/856610
NX76SE 39 75288 60426
NX76SE 39.01 75201 60626 Stables
NX76SE 39.02 75094 60581 Kitchen garden
NX76SE 39.03 c. 7520 6030 Rustic garden
NX76SE 39.04 75278 60642 Visitor centre
NX76SE 56 75768 60848 Lodge and Gates
Architect: Peddie and Kinnear, 1871-72.
Owner: National Trust for Scotland.
Threave House, designed in 1871 for Liverpool merchant, William Gordon, was the creation of architect Charles G H Kinnear (1830-1894), who formed half of one of Scotland's most prominent architectural practices - Peddie & Kinnear. Having first trained with David Bryce, Kinnear joined John Dick Peddie (1824-1891) in 1856. Peddie & Kinnear produced a great number of significant buildings throughout Scotland, including country houses, churches, banks, offices, hotels, hydropathic institutions, hospitals, schools and municipal buildings.
In the mid 19th century, houses by this practice formed part of the new thrust for national romanticism in architecture with references to forms found in the tower houses and castles of the Scottish Renaissance period. The Scottish Baronial style, which was characterised by asymmetrical elevations, corbelled turrets and crow-stepped gables, provided the semblance of fortified living on the exterior whilst insisting on the convenience and luxury of Victorian modern living on the interior.
At Threave House, Kinnear's familiar repertoire of Scottish Baronial details was adapted to an innovative plan, the main focus for which was the distinctive balustraded drum tower. The house is entered at the tower, from where there is direct access to the impressive main staircase - the most striking feature of the interior - which leads up to the principal rooms on the first floor, and family bedrooms on the second floor. At ground floor level are the nurseries, servants' accommodation and an adjacent single storey kitchen block.
(RCAHMS Threave House Exhibition Panels, 2001)
