History
Preston Hall has been in the Callander family since 1789. It has seen thirteen generations pass through its corridors and is still in pristine condition to tell the story today.
A house has stood on the site since 1700 and in 1738 Henrietta, the widow of Alexandra Gordon, 2nd Duke of Gordon, bought the estate and commissioned William Adam to make alterations to the house prior to her son putting it on the market in the early 1780's.
After a prosperous career in India with the East India Company, Alexander Callander returned to Scotland to look for a home. He first bought the neighbouring estates of Elphinstone and Crichton, before acquiring Preston Hall Estate in 1789. At the time of purchase, the house had been vacant for almost ten years and extensive work was needed to make the house habitable. A London based architect, Robert Mitchell, was employed to demolish and replace the hall with the foundation stone laid on Friday 18th March 1791.
Unfortunately, Alexander Callander never lived to see his home, and the house was passed to his brother, John Callander, who completed the work in 1801.
Considered one of Robert Mitchell’s most important works, this Palladian mansion house remains largely unchanged from its original design. Minor alterations have been made over the years with the most notable one taking place in 1850 when David Bryce was commissioned to add a porch to the north side of the house, which then became the main entrance.
The stable block was also designed by Robert Mitchell and was completed shortly after the house. It originally housed over 30 horses, accommodation for up to 15 stable boys and all the family carriages.
Complementing the house and stables is the recently restored Walled Garden. The original layout was created around the same time as the house and sub sequentially modernised by Cecelia Margaret Callander, wife of Henry Burn-Callander, in 1888. A great lover of the outdoors, Cecelia invested a great amount of time and resources in creating beautiful gardens for her family and guests to enjoy.
