Built / Designed For: 5th Earl of Dumfries

House & Family History: The 5th Earl of Dumfries built Dumfries House in the mid-18th century, consulting Lord Burlington and Lord Hopetoun on the preliminary designs for the house. As built by the brothers Adam (the house is considered the finest commission of the brothers), Dumfries House is nine bays long with a pediment rising over three central bays and pavilions linked by quadrants (the second stories were added to the quadrants and pavilions in the 19th century). Dumfries passed by marriage into the ownership of the Crichton-Stuart family, marquesses of Bute. The 7th Marquess of Bute announced in the summer of 2004 that the Dumfries House Estate would be put on the market in September 2004, with an auction of the contents planned by Christie's for summer 2005. The collection of British furniture at Dumfries was estimated by Christie's as probably the most valuable collection ever to come onto the market. The National Trust for Scotland, which was interested in acquiring the house and contents for the nation, withdrew from the acquisition process, acknowledging that it faced the unrealistic goal of raising an estimated £50 million to purchase the house, contents, and polices, plus establishing an endowment for future maintenance. On June 27, 2007 it was announced that a consortium, led the Prince of Wales, and including various heritage charities and the Scottish government (£5 million from the Scottish Executive, £7 million from the National Heritage Memorial Fund, and £2.25 million from The Art Fund), had raised £45 million to purchase Dumfries House and it contents, together with its 2,000-acre estate. The deal also formed a trust to own and run the property: The Great Steward of Scotland's Dumfries House Trust (today the Prince's Trust). The name of the trust was a reference to the title of Great Steward of Scotland held by Prince Charles in his role as the Scottish Duke of Rothesay. The saving of Dumfries would not have occurred without a £20 million loan guaranteed by the prince and his charitable foundations. The money raised by Prince Charles was repaid through fundraising and the development of 50 acres on the edge of the neighboring town of Cumnock, where the prince intends to create a Scottish version of his model development at Poundbury in Dorset.

Collections: The Jacopo Bassano canvas of "Laban and His Flock" was purchased by the 5th Earl of Dumfries in 1756 and is the only Venetian Renaissance painting in a Scottish house that remains where it was in the 18th century. Dumfries contains one of the finest collections of Chippendale furniture in the world, the majority of which has survived unaltered since the mid-18th century, when it was made for the house. Dumfries' collection of Chippendale represents the largest group of the cabinetmaker's documented Rococo furniture in private hands. The collection also contains important furniture by two of Chippendale's Edinburgh contemporaries, William Mathie and Alexander Peter. A fine set of Gobelins tapestries, given by Louis XIV to the Earl of Stair while he was ambassador to France, are still in place in Dumfries. The Philadelphia Museum of Art has had in its collection since 1943 a hall lantern commissioned by the 5th Earl of Dumfries for Dumfries House; the brass lantern of 1759 incorporates the Dumfries family's device of a wyvern. (We are grateful to Donna Corbin of the Philadelphia Museum of Art for this information on the Dumfries House lantern). Though it never occurred, there was scheduled a two-day auction of the contents of Dumfries to be held by Christie's on July 12 and 13, 2007, which was estimated to bring £17 million. The auction did not occur because of the rescue of the house by HRH Prince Charles (the Christie's auction catalogs are now extremely rare and very collectible in their own right).

Garden & Outbuildings: The house today sits in a 2,000-acre estate.

House Listed: Category A

Park Listed: Listed

Seat of: HRH Prince Charles, The Prince of Wales

Past Seat of: William Dalrymple-Crichton, 5th Earl of Dumfries and 4th Earl of Stair, 18th century; John Crichton-Stuart, 2nd Marquess of Bute, 19th century; John Crichton-Stuart, 5th Marquess of Bute, 20th century.

Current Ownership Type: Preservation Organization

Primary Current Ownership Use: Visitor Attraction

Ownership Details: Owned and operated by The Prince’s Foundation

House Open to Public: Yes

Phone: 01290-425-959

Fax: 01290-425-464

Email: info@dumfries-house.org.uk

Website: http://www.dumfries-house.org.uk

Historic Houses Member: Yes