Prince Charles Helps Save Historic House

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Jun 29th 2007 at 9:02AM

Prince Charles has helped save one of Scotland's most historic estates, the Dumfries House. The Dumfries House in East Ayrshire was designed in the 1750s by John, Robert and James Adam and was known not just for the home itself but for the treasure trove of Chippendale furniture specially made for the home. The home was facing an auction through Christie's on July 12-13 to break up the 2,000-acre estate and the antiques inside. The owner John Bute was selling his family home to concentrate on another estate that he owns on the Isle of Bute. Prince Charles spearheaded the plan to raise £45 million pounds. The organizations involved include The Prince's Charities Foundation, the Scottish government, The Art Fund, the Garfield Weston Foundation, The Monument Trust, the National Heritage Memorial Fund and SAVE Britain's Heritage. The home may be open to the public as soon as next year and will be managed through an independent trust. The Prince's Charities Foundation borrowed a large part of the £45m and there will be continued fundraising to help repay the loan.

Tags: chippendale, dumfries house, prince charles, PrinceCharles, scotland