The entrance facade from a 1910 postcard
The entrance facade in 2013
The garden facade from a 1920s postcard
The entrance gates
Detail of the entrance gates
Earlier Houses: The ruins of the medieval Yester Castle are about half-a-mile from Yester House.
House & Family History: The Italian-American composer and librettist Gian Carlo Menotti (1911-2007), most famous for his 1951 opera "Amahl and the Night Visitors," purchased Yester House in 1972 (he said that a painting by Hieronymus Bosch in the Met, "The Adoration of the Magi," inspired his writing of the Christmas opera; see "Images" section). Menotti said that he purchased Yester because of the acoustics of the ballroom (he later ran an opera festival here). In 1974, Menotti, who was openly gay, adopted Francis "Chip" Phelan, an American actor and figure skater he had known since the early 1960s. After Menotti's death in 2007 Yester was listed for sale with a guide price of £12-15 million. In September of 2010 the guide price was reduced to £8 million; the house was sold in 2015 to Nicola and Gareth Wood for an undisclosed sum.
Collections: Lyon & Turnbull sold some contents from Yester on May 2, 2018.
Architect: Jeffry Wyatville (Wyattville) (Wyatt)
Date: 1824Architect: Robert Brown
Date: 1830Architect: James Smith
Date: 1699-1728Architect: Alexander McGill
Date: 1699-1728Architect: William Adam, Sr.
Date: 1730Architect: John Adam
Date: Circa 1758-61Architect: Robert Adam
Date: 1789-90Vitruvius Scoticus: Adam, W., pls. 25-30, 1810.
Country Life: LXXII, 94, 126, 1932. CLIV, 358 plan, 430, 490, 1973.
Title: Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600-1840, A - SOFTBACK
Author: Colvin, Howard
Year Published: 1995
Reference: pg. 1133
Publisher: New Haven: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300072074
Book Type: Softback
Title: Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600-1840, A - HARDBACK
Author: Colvin, Howard
Year Published: 2008
Reference: pg. 169
Publisher: New Haven: Yale University Press
ISBN: 9780300125085
Book Type: Hardback
House Listed: Category A
Park Listed: Listed
Current Seat / Home of: Nicola and Gareth Wood; here since 2015.
Past Seat / Home of: SEATED AT EARLIER HOUSES: Hugh de Giffard, 12th century. SEATED AT CURRENT HOUSE: George Hay, 8th Marquess of Tweeddale, 9th Earl of Tweeddale, 8th Earl of Gifford, and 8th Viscount Walden, 1804-76; Arthur Hay, 9th Marquess of Tweeddale, 10th Earl of Tweeddale, 9th Earl of Gifford, and 9th Viscount Walden, 1876-78; William Montagu Hay, 10th Marquess of Tweeddale, 11th Earl of Tweeddale, 10th Earl of Gifford, 10th Viscount Walden, and 1st Baron Tweeddale, 1878-1911; Hay family here from the 15th century until the 1970s. Gian Carlo Menotti, 1972-2007.
Current Ownership Type: Individual / Family Trust
Primary Current Ownership Use: Private Home
House Open to Public: No
Historic Houses Member: No