Achamore House is a mansion on the

Isle of Gigha Gigha ( ; ; ) or the Isle of Gigha (and formerly Gigha Island) is an island off the west coast of Kintyre in Scotland. The island forms part of Argyll and Bute and has a population of 163 people. The climate is mild with higher than average suns ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. It was built in 1884 for Lt-Col William James Scarlett, and the extensive gardens were laid out by Sir James Horlick from 1944. The house is protected as a category B

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

, while the grounds are included in the

Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland The ''Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland'' is a listing of gardens and designed landscapes of national artistic and/or historical significance, in Scotland. The Inventory was originally compiled in 1987, although it is a cont ...

History

The island of Gigha was formerly the property of the Clan McNeill until John Carstairs MacNeill, who sold the island in 1856 to James Williams Scarlett, second son of William Anglin Scarlett, for £49,000. James Scarlett's son, Lt-Col William James Scarlett, a veteran of the

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

like his cousin William Scarlett, 3rd Baron Abinger, built Achamore House in 1884. The house was designed by John Honeyman of

Honeyman and Keppie Honeyman and Keppie was a major architectural firm based in Glasgow, created by John Honeyman (architect), John Honeyman and John Keppie in 1888 following the death of James Sellars in whose architectural practice Keppie had worked. Their most no ...

Architects. After it was damaged by fire in 1896, John Honeyman was again employed to restore and remodel the house, which was completed in 1900. The island remained in the Scarlett family until 1919 when it was sold to a Major John Allen, and subsequently bought in 1937 by Richard and Elaine Hamer (née de Chair), daughter of Admiral Sir

Dudley de Chair Admiral (Royal Navy), Admiral Sir Dudley Rawson Stratford de Chair (30 August 1864 – 17 August 1958) was a senior Royal Navy officer and later Governor of New South Wales. Early life and career De Chair was born on 30 August 1864 in Le ...

. During the Second World War it passed to Elaine Hamer's brother,

Somerset de Chair Somerset Struben de Chair (22 August 1911 – 5 January 1995) was an English author, politician, and poet. He edited several volumes of the memoirs of Napoleon. Early and personal life De Chair was the younger son of Admiral Sir Dudley de Cha ...

, who sold it on to Colonel Sir James Horlick in 1944, who bought the island in order to extend his plant collection, which he had been developing at Titness Park in Berkshire. He undertook plantings across some of gardens surrounding the house. The estate was again sold in 1973 after Horlick's death to James Landale, but the plant collection was given to the

National Trust for Scotland The National Trust for Scotland () is a Scottish Building preservation and conservation trusts in the UK, conservation organisation. It is the largest membership organisation in Scotland and describes itself as "the charity that cares for, sha ...

. The next owner in 1989 was Malcolm Potier, followed by the Holt family until in 2002 the island was purchased by its residents, and ownership of the house and gardens passed to the Isle of Gigha Heritage Trust. In order to pay back loans used for the community buy-out, the house was sold in 2003 and now operates as bed and breakfast accommodation. The property was relisted for sale in 2012, and having sought Offers over £750,000, it was sold in December 2020. The Achamore Gardens are owned by the Heritage Trust, and are open to the public. The mild climate of the

Inner Hebrides The Inner Hebrides ( ; ) is an archipelago off the west coast of mainland Scotland, to the south east of the Outer Hebrides. Together these two island chains form the Hebrides, which experience a mild oceanic climate. The Inner Hebrides compri ...

, and the

microclimate A microclimate (or micro-climate) is a local set of atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric conditions that differ from those in the surrounding areas, often slightly but sometimes substantially. The term may refer to areas as small as a few square m ...

of the gardens, allows an unusual range of plants to flourish. The gardens include specimens of southern rātā from New Zealand,

Montezuma pine ''Pinus montezumae'', known as the Montezuma pine, is a species of conifer in the family Pinaceae. It is native to Mexico and Central America, where it is one of many pines known as ocote. Description The tree grows about 35 m high and 80 ...

from Central America, '' Puya alpestris'' from the Andes, and ''

Wollemia nobilis ''Wollemia'' is a genus of coniferous trees in the family Araucariaceae, endemic to Australia. It represents one of only three living genera in the family, alongside ''Araucaria'' and ''Agathis'' (being more closely related to the latter). The ge ...

'' from Australia.

References

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External links

Achamore House website
{{Isle of Gigha Houses in Argyll and Bute Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes Category B listed buildings in Argyll and Bute Category B listed houses in Scotland Houses completed in 1900 Gardens in Argyll and Bute Isle of Gigha