MountStuart House Isle of Bute

When I was growing up on Bute this house and grounds were completely out of bounds. My Granny was employed there, when they had functions, as head waitress and my father had been a friend of the 4th Lord Bute, having served with him during the war on the Cyclops. They became friends through being keen fishermen. They both told us how wonderful the house was with a white marble chapel and a marble swimming pool etc. So when it opened to the public some years ago I was keen to see round and went with Goatee and LOH. We were not disappointed. It was the first house in Britain to have electricity.
The house has 300 acres of gardens and at the moment there are daffodils everywhere. There are signs that there have been loads of snowdrops and we saw hellebores growing as if they were wild in the woods. .Primroses were there too and we could see there are going to be carpets of bluebells in a few weeks.
The house we stayed in was well and expensively equipped, with underfloor heating and a log burning stove. It had been part of the Stables.
The Baron would have loved the beach and we were the only people on it.