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Culzean Castle
Architect: Robert Adam (1775-1792)
Photograph: E. Smith (1961)
Source: RIBA British Architectural Library Photographs Collection

Culzean is one of the most splendid houses in Scotland. Built between 1775 and 1792, its designer was Robert Adam, perhaps the most creative late Georgian architect. Adam is best known for his late Neo-Classical interiors, like those at Saltram House, Devon. Culzean, though, appears to be very different.

Adam was commissioned by the Earl of Cassilis to enlarge and remodel a late sixteenth-century castle, set on a cliff-top overlooking the sea. Certainly, as this photo suggests, Culzean’s varied skyline resembles a castle. Its pepper-pot turrets, towers and battlements borrow directly from historic Scottish architecture. Its rounded towers, set with arrow slits, make the façades bulge in and out. All this is a far cry from the square Georgian country villa.

However, the front is rigorously symmetrical, unlike most medieval castles. Apart from the arrow slits, the windows are regular Georgian sashes, and evenly spaced. There are even classical columns framing the large central windows. Inside, all is made clear: the stunning interiors are Neo-Classical. Adam, like others before and after him, was reinventing the Scottish castle to suit modern taste.