An eighteenth century Adam house with a twentieth century Arts and Crafts garden by Sir Reginald Blomfield. It has terraces, a great lawn, stately flights of steps and clipped yews. This leads to a lake and woodland garden with views of the Chieviot hills. An eye-catcher was placed on the north-south axis of the house in 1770. It is a two-dimensional, turreted gothic archway.
Blomfield wrote in his autobiography that 'My scheme was to have been carried onto an immense grass hemicycle overlooking the lake at the foot of the hill, in the best manner of le Notre, but we had to abandon this, indeed it would have required the resources of Louis XIV to carry out the whole of my design'. The result of not completing his design is that the gardens looks well from the house but distinctly odd when you look back from the lake.
Mellerstain House, Mellerstain, Gordon, Scottish Borders, Scotland, TD3 6LG
May to end of Sept (Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon). Gardens & coffee shop: 11.30am - 5pm. House: 12.30pm - 5pm (last entry 4.15pm).
House & gardens: £8.50 adult/ £4.00 child/ under 5's free. Gardens: £5.00 adult/ £2.50 child/ under 5's free. HHA/ ASVA/ Art Fund members accepted on presentation of membership card.