Houses

During his years in Scotland, RBCG lived in three successive houses, all of which had long been part of the Graham estates. His early years were spent at Finlaystone; his adolescence and married life at Gartmore; and his later years at Ardoch. All three would be sold in his lifetime, with the third, Ardoch, being bought back in 1901 to remain in the family until 1987.

Finlaystone

'I remembered the old house in Scotland, perched on a rock above the Clyde, and set about with trees ... I saw the yew trees under which John Knox is said to have preached and dealt with heresy and superstition ...'

~ RBCG on Finlaystone

'A long low Georgian room … with its high mantelpiece and windows looking out on the sunk garden underneath the terraces, the sides of which were honeycombed by rabbits … '

~ RBCG on the 'bookroom' at Gartmore

Finlaystone estate came to Robert Cunninghame Graham ('Doughty Deeds'), RBCG'S great-great-grandfather, on the death of his cousin, John Cunninghame, 15th Earl of Glencairn. The house, which was built in 1760, incorporated a 15th century castle. It became the home of the eldest Graham sons until they inherited Gartmore and, thus, was the childhood home of RBCG and his brothers. However, his father, Willie Bontine, was forced to sell the estate in 1863 to meet the cost of death duties. The estate was bought by Sir David Carrick-Buchanan, but he rented it to his friend, George Kidston, who bought it in 1897. George’s daughter Lilian, who married the Irish banker, Richard Blackiston-Houston, left the estate to their daughter Marion, who married General Sir Gordon MacMillan in 1929. Their son George is the current owner. John Knox celebrated communion under a yew tree in the garden (pictured at right of the building). Robert Burns scratched his name on a window when he visited. Finlaystone House

Gartmore

The original house was built by Nicol Graham in the early 18th century for his future bride. It was enlarged and remodelled by his son, Doughty Deeds, half a century later in the style of the Adam brothers. Though often let during the 19th century, the house remained the principal seat of the family until 1900 when the estate was sold for £126,000 by RBCG to Sir Charles Cayzer, Bt, who had the house gutted and remodelled by David Barclay in a more baronial style, with a mansard roof on the upper storey. In 1940, the army commandeered the estate for barracks. In 1953 it was sold to the Roman Catholic Church, who used it as a school for boys with emotional and social difficulties. Between 1987 and 1995, the house was the European centre for The Way International, a US-based cult, after which it was bought by a Christian charity which uses it today as a conference and activity centre. Gartmore House

Ardoch

Doughty Deeds returned from Jamaica to take possession of the barony of Ardoch, which he had inherited on the death of his cousin William Bontine in 1770. The existing mansion, Ardoch Castle, was ruinous, cold, draughty and unsuitable for his Jamaican-born wife, so he had a colonial-style bungalow built for her closer to the River Clyde. The interior was finished in the style of the Adam brothers and features an oval drawing room. Within less than half a century, the house was abandoned and roofless, but by the 1870s, having been restored, it was tenanted. The house, but not the barony, was sold in 1885 and had to be bought back by RBCG in 1901 following the sale of Gartmore. His heir, Angus, had the house electrified and added an upper storey to the east wing in the 1930s. The house and barony were sold to Professor Tommy Mackay in 1987. Mackay of Ardoch