Lochnorris estate Originally the estate was known as
Lefnoreis or Lochnorris, and belonged to a branch of Craufurds of
Loudoun. The original castle stood on the elevated ground close to the coach house.
Earl of Dumfries In 1635, the estate was purchased from the Craufords by
William Crichton, 2nd Earl of Dumfries (1598–1691). The estate, and the title, passed via his daughter to his grandson
William Dalrymple-Crichton, 5th Earl of Dumfries and 4th
Earl of Stair (1699–1768). He commissioned the Adam brothers to design a new house for the estate. Robert Adam oversaw construction until his departure on the "
Grand Tour" of Europe. The House is an early independent work by the Adam Brothers, who had taken over the architecture business of their father
William Adam on his death in 1748. The house is a Palladian design, with a three-storey central block connected to smaller pavilions by linking wings.
Intended sale With John Bute facing a bill from the death duties of both his father and grandmother, he offered to sell the house to the
National Trust for Scotland in 1994, but they declined. John Bute later replaced the roof. The house was scheduled for sale through
Savills and its contents for auction by
Christie's. It was thought that some of the art and furniture might fetch nearly as much as the house itself; one
Chippendale rosewood bookcase, for example, was valued at £2m-£4m. With the announcement of the sale, preservationists lamented the imminent dispersal of an ensemble said to have remained virtually untouched since an 1803 inventory, and organised a campaign intending to buy the house and hold it in trust under the
Save Britain's Heritage organisation. The trust was set up with the name "The Great Steward of Scotland's Dumfries House Trust", a reference to the title
Great Steward of Scotland then held by Charles in his role as Scottish
heir apparent. A major element of the financial package was a £20m loan backed by
The Prince's Charities Foundation. The trust's intended model is to have the estate become a self-sufficient enterprise, in the process revitalising the local economy. The project was to be achieved through donation and sponsorship of various renovation projects around the estate, as well as through revenues from the construction of an 'eco-village' in the grounds, a planned community called
Knockroon. After switching to a model of private and corporate fundraising, the £20m loan was repaid by 2012, with a further £15m backing having been raised for the various renovation projects and ongoing maintenance of the estate. Following restoration, Dumfries House itself opened to the public for guided tours on 6 June 2008. From mid-2009, supermarket chain
Morrisons began funding the restoration of the meat and dairy farm attached to the estate to become a research and education tool into sustainable farming methods, but also with the intention of its becoming profitable by 2014, part of Morrisons' vertically integrated supply chain. Renovation of the former coach house and associated stable block began in winter 2010. It reopened in 2011 as both a visitor cafe and bistro dining facility. The first phase of the Knockroon village opened in May 2011. In October 2011, work was started on clearing the area that used to be the Walled Garden, which had fallen into disuse and become overgrown. In April 2012, the six-bedroomed guest house Dumfries House Lodge opened, to provide guest accommodation for wedding parties and other events. It was created by renovating a derelict farm building on the estate. The estate's former water-powered sawmill was renovated to full working order and, with the addition of a larger workshop building, re-opened as the Sawmill Building Skills Centre, a traditional skills education facility. Charles, while Prince of Wales and known in Scotland as the
Duke of Rothesay, continued to support Dumfries House. In September 2012, with his wife Camilla, then the Duchess of Rothesay and
of Cornwall, and
First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond, Charles attended Ladies' Day at
Ayr Racecourse in aid of the Trust. In 2017, the Prince of Wales celebrated 10 years of Dumfries house; he was quoted in
Dumfries House Magazine as saying, "We now have over 150 employees and thousands of individuals using the estate. My hope, therefore, is that this publication can help to involve a wider audience of supporters by providing an insight to all that happens on this estate and to its even more important outreach work." In September 2017, the Duke and Duchess of Rothesay welcomed
Michael D. Higgins, the
president of Ireland, and his wife,
Sabina Higgins, to Dumfries House and attended a concert celebrating 25 years of Classic FM. In May 2018, "The Great Steward of Scotland's Dumfries House Trust" was renamed "
The Prince's Foundation". In 2019, the
BBC reported that
The Prince's Charities Foundation had accepted
US$202,000 in donations from Quantus Division Ltd, a company that was part of an offshore network managed by
Ruben Vardanyan's Moscow investment bank
Troika Dialog that moved billions out of Russia. Money from the network was used to help with restoring parts of Dumfries House. In January 2023, it was reported that Dumfries House would be open to the public as a part of an initiative by
the Prince's Foundation to tackle loneliness and isolation in cold weather by providing warm spaces. In September 2023, the King held a Privy Council Meeting at the house for the first time. In January 2026, The Foundation announced plans for a extension to the east wing of the house to be used for ticketed events and private hire, at an estimated cost of £6.5 million. The extension, to be known as the King's Hall, would replace the existing Pavilion marquee, and was scheduled to open in summer 2027. ==Gallery==