The Edwardian Country House

'Omne Bonum Superne’ (All Good Comes From Above) reads the inscription over the gate at Manderston, a neo-Classical country house set amidst fifty-six acres of formal gardens and parkland just over the border in the Scottish lowlands. The house was rebuilt on his return from the Boer War by Sir James Miller, a career soldier, who had inherited the estate from his father Sir William Miller, a Liberal MP who had made his money in the Baltic from hemp and herring. Miller commissioned the architect John Kinross to refurbish and extend his home in a manner appropriate to a member of the Edwardian nouveaux riches, one who had married the sister of Lord Curzon.

Manderston is still lived in by descendants of Sir William. It is open to the public on selected days and visitors are guided around the rooms designated ‘public’ by local women (the mother of one of whom worked in the house as a maid). They point out the elaborate ceiling mouldings, the vistas of marble flooring, the distinguished portraits and valuable sculpture, the fine Chippendale furniture, the impressive Italian chandeliers in the ballroom, the solid silver staircase modelled on the one in Le Petit Trianon in Versailles. Descending to the commodious basement kitchens, they give snippets of historical information spiced with anecdotes about owners past and present, and, at the conclusion of the tour, point the way to the tea room and gift shop.