Bute, Mount Stuart House, Scoulag Cottage

Scoulag Lodge is situated on a triangular site between the A844 and the Mountstuart estate West drive. The lodge was designed by Robert Weir Schultz in 1897 for the Marquess and Marchioness of Bute whose initials appear opn one of the hopper heads. The original estimate was for £600 but the eventual cost was £835.

The lodge is built of harled rubble from the estate and the roof is covered with Kames slate, also from Bute. The ashlar dressings including the balustrade and shields are of Gourock sandstone. The heraldic shields depict the three principal lineages and estates of the Bute family - the Windsors of Glamorgan, the Stuarts of Bute, and the Crichtons of Dumfries House. Although the shields are of stone they were always intended to be painted.

The plan is focused on the central single chimney stack with the staircase and entrance housed in a turret. The lower floor originally contained a wash house and WC; the middle floor had a living room, a bedroom, and a scullery with pantry; whilst the upper floor had three bedrooms. The interior has been altered but the form of the original plan survives.

Scoulag Lodge is an extremely good example of a Scottish Arts and Crafts building showing Robert Weir Schultz’s ability to combine the spirit of historic exemplars such as Queen Mary’s Bath House at Holyrood with his own design ethos to create something both Scottish and individual. The architectural historian Gavin Stamp, in his essay on Schultz and the Marquesses of Bute, regards it as a little masterpiece.

Information from RCAHMS (STG), 2009