Those Kennedys knew how to live in style!: anteros

anteros_lmc

Those Kennedys knew how to live in style!

Jul 03, 2010 20:33

Last weekend we went for a visit to Culzean Castle and were blessed with the most glorious weather. Culzean is the seat of Clan Kennedy and the present castle was commissioned by David Kennedy, the 10th Earl, (he who Boswell lampooned for his reluctance to marry) and built by Robert Adam between 1777 and 1792. The Kennedy's gifted the castle and estate to the National Trust for Scotland in 1945 although the apartment at the top was loaned in perpetuity to General Dwight Eisenhower in recognition of his service to the allied cause during the Second World War. Culzean is widely held to be Adam's masterpiece and the interior of the castle is an archetype of Georgian elegance. Sadly photography is not allowed inside which is a damn shame because as well as the gorgeous interiors there are also some extraordinary model ships and maritime paintings and etchings. One model is a huge reconstruction of HMS Britannia, 120 guns, 1820, however the figure head of Britannia has rather cheekily been removed and replaced by a figure of a Highlander :) The castle also has the most elaborate decorative Armoury, with the largest collection of period weapons outside Windsor Castle, and more cannons than you can shake a powder monkey at. Most of the pictures below were taken in the formal gardens and terraces immediately surrounding the castle, however the estate, which was designed and landscaped by Thomas White Senior, a student of Capability Brown, stretches for miles along the coast and is dotted with, among other things, kitchen gardens, green houses, vineries and orangeries, a camelia house, an aviary, the Swan Pond, round houses, icehouses, laundries, deer parks and too many other things to mention!