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Issue 8 - Modern masterpiece

History & Heritage

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Scotland Magazine Issue 8

Scotland Magazine Issue 8
May 2003

 

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Modern masterpiece

CHARLES DOUGLAS VISITS SCOTLAND'S CLASSIC EDWARDIAN COUNTRY HOUSE: MANDERSTON

Modern masterpiece (Issue 8)
Manderston’s appearance in Hollywood films (The House of Mirth) and on television (The Edwardian Country House/Manor House in the USA) has brought it celebrity exposure, but being located in the Scottish borders county of Berwickshire, off the direct tourist routes, it is often passed by. This is a shame, as it is well worth a visit.

For this is a fine country house on which no expense was spared, from its opulent staterooms and the only silver staircase in the world to the extensive ‘downstairs’ domestic quarters. When the architect John Kinross asked his client Sir James Miller how large his budget was, he was told that money was no object.

Manderston was certainly intended to dazzle, but it was also rebuilt and renovated for love. When Sir James married Eveline Curzon, daughter of Lord Scarsdale, head of one of Britain’s oldest dynasties, he was determined not only to impress his father-in-law, but to create a spectacular home for his family.

Sir James’s father, Sir William Miller, had made a fortune trading hemp and herrings with the Russians. After 16 years as Honorary British Consul in St Petersburg, he had returned to Scotland where he became Liberal Member of Parliament for Leith, and later, Berwickshire. The Prime Minister, William Gladstone, made him a baronet in 1874. A few years after this, he bought Manderston from his deceased older brother’s estate.

On his father’s death in 1887, the Manderston estate, fortune and baronetcy passed to his second son, James, who was described at the time as one of the most eligible bachelors in the land.

A passionate sportsman and horse-racing enthusiast, ‘Lucky Jim’ married in 1893, truly into the British establishment. In 1898, his brother-in-law, George Nathaniel Curzon, aged only 39, was appointed Viceroy of India.

To begin with, it was the gardens on the south front of the house that preoccupied Sir James. New terraces and the horseshoe front stair were created, and for his wife, he commissioned an ‘alpine chalet’ boathouse. Then came the Georgian-style stable block, the gamekeeper’s cottage and kennels.

In 1901, on his return from fighting in the Boer War, he asked Kinross to begin completely remodelling the house. Sir James required a home that was both substantial and luxurious, where he could entertain lavishly.

A north front was therefore created with an elegant Ionic portico and a bachelor’s wing to provide ample accommodation for guests. The original stable block was converted into a laundry with rooms for servants.

It comes as no surprise to learn that the interiors have on several occasions been used by film companies to replicate those of Buckingham Palace. Even so, it is still very much the home of Lord Palmer, Sir James’ great-grandson, who with his wife Cornelia took over the running of the estate in 1979.

The oval entrance hall is the first of a series of classical revival rooms, with a vaulted cloakroom to the right which is screened from the dining-room anteroom by a pair of silver-plated grills, set in arches, on panels of translucent apricot alabaster. The ceiling of the anteroom was inspired by the one in the entrance hall of Syon House, near London, built by the great 18th Century Scottish architect, Robert Adam, and here, the inlaid marble floor reflects its pattern.

The dining room was completed in 1905, and the ceiling, in high relief, features Mars, the Roman God of War, with dancing muses and vase patterns in the lozenges that radiate around him. The urns flanking the recess are two knife-holders created by Robert Adam. On the sideboard and mantelpiece stands part of a collection of blue john urns, obelisks and candelabra collected by Lady Miller. The mahogany dining-room table can seat 24.

The hall is designed to impress. The floor is of inlaid marble, the fireplace and its elaborate stucco is almost a replica of that in the hall of Kedleston Hall, the Curzon home.

On 7th November 1905, the Millers gave a ball to celebrate the completion of the work, and Kinross’s ballroom blends the opulence of Louis XVI with the more restrained Adam style. The décor is primrose and white, and the walls are hung with silk embossed with primrose velvet, Miller’s racing colours. The curtains are woven in gold and silver thread.

In the ballroom, the central ceiling panel pictures Apollo with cupids. The long panels show Venus in different scenes, and the corner roundels are filled with cherubs. On the walls are paintings of Nancye Bailie, the present Lord Palmer’s grandmother when she came to Manderston as a bride, and of Eleanor Bailie, pianist and author and Lord Palmer’s aunt.

The drawing room survives from the original Georgian house, but again was entirely redecorated with no expense spared. The walls are lined in white silk with curtains in white silk, bordered with turquoise. The ceiling colours are the same as were chosen by Robert Adam for the library ceiling at Mellerstain, another great Borders mansion.

A circular morning room affords wonderful views of the lake and woodland garden. The tea room is furnished with lacquered cabinets, Chinese Chippendale chairs, and family portraits that include a family group by Charles Lutyens.

Then there is the remarkable staircase with its silver-plated balustrade and solid brass rail. The pattern is a swirling Vitruvian scroll motif used for the ironwork all over the house, and the cantilevered marble stairs were inspired by Madam de Pompadour’s staircase at the Petit Trianon, Versailles. Prior to World War I, it took three men three weeks to dismantle, polish and replace this staircase. Until recently, it was
cared for on a voluntary basis by an Edinburgh-based couple.

Manderston’s basement, stretching the length and breadth of the house, is a superb example of how a great Edwardian household operated. Unmarried and visiting man servants slept and lived here. The cook, butler and housekeeper each ran their independent specialised departments.

The kitchen, for the era, was state-of-the-art, with a cooking range from G. Drouet in Paris. An underfloor flue connects it to a chimney in the boiler house at the far end of the house.

Even the horses at Manderston lived in style. The barrel-vaulted roof of teak runs above stalls also made of teak, with polished brass posts. The horses’ names (all beginning with ‘M’ to complement Miller and Manderston) are incised on marble panels; the tiled feed troughs are set in teak, and all the door fittings and halter rings are of the finest brass. The harness room is a masterpiece of rosewood, with a floor of marble and table of brass and Italian marble.

There are 56 acres of formal and informal gardens to explore, providing a wonderful excursion for visitors. In the spring, the lawn at the front of the house is a carpet of bluebells and ablaze with daffodils. The terraces are alive with colour throughout the summer.

Manderston does not resonate with the passage of centuries, or at least not yet; but it transports the visitor into the early 20th century and the lavish lifestyles that were funded by the great wealth of the Victorian era. Not yet a century old, it is interesting to reflect that when John Kinross completed his work in 1905, Manderston was seen as the ultimate achievement in modernity.

Despite all the developments in technology and manufacturing that have taken place since, nobody could afford to build such a masterpiece nowadays, even if they were able to source the materials to do so.