The Lady Bute Room

The red silk wall covering is an original feature of this beautiful and feminine room, chosen by Lord Bute because it matched his wife Gwendolen's rosy complexion.

The room was originally Lady Bute’s sitting room. Fitted out under William Frame's direction in the late 1880's, it is a charming celebration of the natural world. Birds and foliage can be seen in the walnut frieze and finely carved pillar capitals by Thomas Nicholls.

The decorative ceiling of gold ornament upon cedar wood, designed by Frame and decorated by Charles Campbell. The heraldic stained glass panels are by Worrall and Co. and include the combined arms of the Crichton-Stuart and the Fitzalan-Howard families, united through the marriage of the 3rd Marquess and Marchioness.

Also of note is the elaborate fireplace ornamental, complete with Corinthian pillars surmounted by domes, the close inspection of which reveals a number of locusts carved delicately into the wood, and to its right, the original individual bell pushes for calling the nursery, maid, pantry and housekeeper.

Mount Stuart, Britain’s most astounding Victorian gothic house