Fasque House

A previous house, known as Fasque, or Faskie, was located roughly 50 yd north of the present site. In about the 1750s, Sir Alexander Ramsay, 6th Baronet of Balmain, who had been a local Member of Parliament, planted the beech avenues that survive today. William Adam (1689–1748) prepared a plan for the house which is illustrated in his Vitruvius Scoticus, although it was never executed. The house took over ten years to construct, with contemporary guide books describing its central hallway as open to the elements, as the world's largest indoor double spiral staircase was being constructed at the back of the hall. After his death in May 1810, the younger Alexander's 2nd son, also Alexander…

The house is a large sandstone building, in a symmetrical castellated style, with octagonal towers at the centre and corners of the main facade. The structure remains relatively unchanged since its completion. Sir John Gladstone added a third storey to the central tower in 1830, and built the portico of rusticated pillars in the 1840s. The drawing room was expanded in 1905, and some servants' quarters were added before the beginning of the First World War. Innovative use of electricity meant that Fasque was possibly the first house in Scotland to be lit by electric lights, and had an electric buzzer system as early as 1890. It was also noted for having innovative firefighting and health and…