page_title: Craigiehall
section_title: The Bruce house
hierarchical_section_title: Craigiehall / The Bruce house
caption_attribution_description: Sir William Bruce, 1630 - 1710, Scottish architect
context_page_description: Craigiehall is a late-17th-century country house, which until 2015 served as the Headquarters of the British Army in Scotland. It is located close to Cramond, around 9 km west of central Edinburgh, Scotland.
  Craigiehall was designed by Sir William Bruce, with input from James Smith, and completed in 1699 for the Earl of Annandale, who had recently acquired the Craigie estate through marriage. It is a good surviving example of one of Bruce's smaller houses, and set a pattern for such villas in the Edinburgh area for the 18th century.
  It was later the home of Charles Hope-Weir, who made several improvements to the estate policies. Craigiehall was extended several times, before being sold to the Earl of Rosebery, who leased out the property. It was briefly a hotel and country club, before being requisitioned by the Army at the outbreak of the Second World War. Craigiehall continues to be used as the Army's Scottish Headquarters. The house has been protected as a category A listed building since 1971, as a substantial 17th-century classical house, worked on by several notable architects.
context_section_description: The couple set about planning a new house to replace the aging tower house, and in 1694 the Earl contacted Sir William Bruce, who promised to design "a convenient little house, gardings and courts". The property was surveyed by John Adair, and the old tower house was taken down. The survey took the place of a site visit by Bruce, who was at this time under virtual house arrest, due to his political leanings, and suspected Jacobite sympathies. Design submissions were also obtained from James Smith and Robert Mylne. Smith's scheme was judged too small and irregular by Bruce, who urged the Earl to agree to his own "modish and regullar designe". However, the house as built by Bruce is partially based on Smith's early design. Before work on the house commenced, a courtyard, 500 by 400 feet (150 by 120 m) across, was laid out, establishing the formal arrangement in which the house would sit. On 16 February 1698, a contract was signed between Lord Annandale and the mason Thomas Bauchop, for a house 64 by 46 feet (20 by 14 m), and 28 feet (8.5 m) high, all "according to the modell of wood and draught signed by Sir William Bruce of Kinross".
  Bruce's new house was complete by 1699, and was worked on by many of the same craftsmen who were engaged by Bruce at nearby Hopetoun House, which was under construction at the same time. Craftsmen included the plasterers John McKay and Thomas Albur, cabinet maker William Scott, plumber Joseph Foster, smith Alexander Gardener, and the wright Andrew Barclay. The staircase, with its wrought-iron balustrade decorated with roses, thistles, tulips and oak leaves, bears many similarities to the one at Caroline Park, Granton, and was the work of the smiths James Storrie and James Horne.
  The building comprises a compact, three-storey house, in the Dutch-classical style which was introduced into England by Sir Roger Pratt, and is typical of Bruce's work. The six-bay entrance front has a two-bay projecting central section, surmounted by a pediment topped by three pineapples, of which one remains. The tympanum is carved with the coat of arms of the Earl and his wife, with their initials (WEA and SCA for William, Earl of Annandale, and Sophia Countess of Annandale) and the date 1699. The roof behind was bell-cast, with a cupola and four tall chimneys symmetrically placed, although this was replaced in the 1950s. The centrally placed entrance is reached by steps, and surmounted by carved decorations. The garden front is similar, and is also topped by a decorated pediment. Once the house was complete, two wings connected by curved passages were added. These incorporated additional accommodation and a library, but the passages and south wing were later demolished.
  Inside, Bruce planned two apartments: a state apartment, comprising dining room, drawing room, bedroom and dressing room, with a second smaller apartment to the south. Bruce's panelling survives in part of the south apartment, which was later turned into a single room. The chimneypiece and wood carving in the "Blue Room" is also 17th century. The centrally placed stairwell, lighted from above, would be developed more fully by Bruce in his design for Hopetoun House.
  The walled garden to the north-east was built in 1708 by Alexander McGill, to designs by the Earl of Mar, who also designed the gate piers and garden buildings, and supplied statuary. The garden may have been balanced by a similar walled garden to the south-east of the house. No trace is now visible, but a second garden is shown on 18th century maps of the area, and would have been consistent with Bruce's symmetrical layout.
caption: Sir William Bruce, architect of Craigiehall.
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