(Continued from previous page)

Lord Tweedmouth lived at Guisachan during the six month parliamentary recess and during that time many famous and influential people visited the estate.  In 1897 the Duke and Duchess of York, later to become George V and Queen Mary were guests of the Tweedmouths.  Sir Winston Churchill spent holidays at Guisachan.

Lord Tweedmouth's son was forced to sell Guisachan in 1908 due to financial difficulty.  Then in 1935 the property consisting of 22,000 acres, was sold to a Mr Hunter who resold the deer forest to the west and a large area of grazing land to the Forestry Commission.  All efforts to sell Guisachan House failed.  It was said that its 15 family rooms and 16 servants rooms were too many, and its five bathrooms too few.  In spite of a price tag of £3,500 for the mansion standing on 150 acres, no purchaser could be found.  Meanwhile, the estate was split up and sold.

Then in 1939 a Lady Islington purchased the mansion for £1,500 and began to strip it preparing for demolition.  A sale was held of all removable furnishings and the lead and slates were removed from the roof.  Years of  exposure have reduced the mansion to its present state.

In 1961 Euan Fraser purchased the now much smaller Guisachan consisting of the home farm and a small part of the hill above it.  After 107 years this part of the estate was once again owned by the Frasers and remains so today.

The information in this article is from
'Guisachan -- A History' by Donald Fraser.