UK's 'most beautiful home' on sale for £4.25m

A HOUSE once described by Robinson Crusoe author Daniel Defoe as the most beautiful piece of architecture in all of Scotland – perhaps all of Britain – is for sale.

Kinross House, on the edge of Loch Leven, has gone on the market for offers over 4.25 million, after being owned by the same family for generations.

Prospective purchasers can look forward to wandering in their own formal gardens and more than 14 bedrooms.

The house, which is not open to the public, although the garden opens for a fee in summer, has had various owners and witnessed its share of tragedy after the son of one owner was killed by pirates.

The "gentleman architect" Sir William Bruce began work on the house in 1685 after buying the Kinross-shire estate in 1675.

The ancestor of the present Earl of Elgin and Kincardine, he was a loyal supporter of the Stuart kings, a loyalty which was rewarded with a post of king's surveyor and architect in 1671.

In this post, he was responsible for rebuilding the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, as well as for major works at Hopetoun House, Thirlestane Castle and Balcaskie.

Kinross House, however, was to be his masterpiece.

For a decade, Bruce and his son John concentrated on draining and levelling the site and then laying out and planting the formal gardens.

With the accession of King James VII of Scotland in 1685, Bruce lost his remaining government posts and was able to concentrate fully on Kinross House, the building of which was completed in 1693. His attention to detail was so intense that the interior had still not been completed to Bruce's design by the time of his death in 1710.

Although he may never have lived in Kinross House, it is believed he intended it as a family home.

The house fell out of family ownership in 1777 when it was purchased by George Graham – and the current owner is his great-great-great-grandchild.

However, the family has been hit by tragedy: George Graham's grandson, Thomas Henry Graham, was killed aged 16. In the Indian Ocean on his way to India, his ship was attacked by pirates and, despite being sent below with the women and children, he wanted to see the action, ran up on deck and was killed.

The house passed down to the Montgomery family in 1819, when Sir James Montgomery married George Graham's granddaughter, Helen.

One of the factors that make Kinross special is the Montgomery family's preference for staying in their other property, Stobo Castle in the Borders.

For that reason, Kinross House was not lived in for 80 years and escaped the remodelling that was commonplace with houses during the Victorian era.

It is currently owned by Sir David Montgomery, the former Lord Lieutenant of Perth and Kinross and former chairman of the Forestry Commission.

It has more than 14 bedrooms, five reception rooms, a first-floor ballroom, a former state bedroom and outstanding views across the formal gardens to Loch Leven and the island castle where Mary, Queen of Scots was imprisoned.

The home is occupied by Sir David's son Jamie and his wife, Lizzie, and their two children, Edward and Iona.

They plan to concentrate on golfing and other hotel interests in the area, including Kinross Golf Courses and Green Hotel and Windlestrae Hotel.

"Without doubt, this is one of the great houses in Scotland, and we expect a lot of interest from both the UK and overseas," said a spokesman for the joint selling agents, Knight Frank.