Scottish Retreat Part 8 — Auchinleck House and Wrap-Up

My last post on the Scottish Retreat 2018:

Below is Auchinleck House, Ayrshire, Scotland, the beautiful country house that was the home of James Boswell, biographer of Samuel Johnson. The house was in great disrepair 20 plus years ago but was restored and remodeled. The owners rent the house now to families and groups. Number One London Tours found Auchinleck House and leased the house for our retreat. For 2019, the retreat house will be Gargunnock House, located near Stirling, which is about 36 miles from Edinburgh.

Before this house was built, there was a previous one built in 1612, the remains of which are on the estate along with the remains of Auchinleck Castle, older than the first house.

From Wikipedia about the current Auchinleck House:

The “new” Auchinleck House was built circa 1760 by Alexander Boswell, Lord Auchinleck, 8th Laird of Auchinleck. It later passed on to his son, James Boswell, the biographer of Samuel Johnson. Boswell and Johnson visited the house in 1773 on their way back from their journey to the Hebrides. In 1782, James Boswell became the 9th Laird of Auchinleck. The design of the house has been attributed to Robert Adam, although it may have been designed by Alexander Boswell himself.

The house from the road coming up and in front:

Looking at all the rooms and wandering about the basement was great fun. The bedrooms were nicely furnished and the bathrooms were modernized. There was a modern kitchen with an island, an office, and a gorgeous dining room.

In the upstairs were the bedrooms as well as a wonderful library. The bottom right shows the view from the kitchen looking out the back of the house

Looking out the front, the staircase, and detail on one of the many fireplaces.

Details in the dining room and a map of the estate. I threw in a pic of the hemp water I enjoyed. We went shopping at the local ASDA and cooked a couple of meals during the week and picked up snacks and breakfast food.

Scottish highland cows roam the estate. I don’t remember ever seeing these beautiful cows before visiting Scotland. One stray cow escaped through the fence a couple of mornings . . .

On a hike around the estate, different types of mushrooms abounded. The estate was beautiful in the month of September.

There’s a river through the estate, and grassy pastures can be found, too.

More green:

At the back of the house:

So thus ends my Scottish retreat posts. We did visit a few castles and Dumfries House while on the retreat. I shall leave others to describe those places. I am sure Kristine at Number One London will have some fabulous posts on some of these. The one pictured below is the beautiful Culzean Castle, associated with Dwight D. Eisenhower, of all people.