Image and Architecture: A Fresh Approach to Sir William Bruce and the Scottish Country House

Abstract

Kinross has come to epitomise a defining moment in the development of Scottish domestic architecture, when the retrospective image of the tower-house finally submitted to the refinement and convenience of the compact, classical country house. This essay, which is based upon a close analysis of the aspirations and ambitions of Sir William Bruce's patrons, puts the case for an alternative hypothesis. The tower did not give way to the classical country house, as historians have proposed. Instead, both forms of architecture remained in demand throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, each appealing to different sections of noble society.