Duff House
Duff House is newly built Georgian style castle near Banff, Scotland.
The house was commissioned by William Duff, Lord Braco commissioned and built under the direction of William Adam. The foundation stone was laid on June 11, 1735 and the main building was built in its fundamentals to about 1740. However, the interior design and the completion of the entire ensemble was delayed until the 1760s, with the original plan remained unfinished. Even in this state forms Duff House of the grandest palace building in the early 18th century in Scotland.
Edification
The house was built for William Duff, Lord Braco and from 1759 the Earl of Fife. His plan to build a new castle near the STAFT Banff / Aberdeenshire, he surrendered to William Adam, the then leading architects in Scotland. Although the original plans did not receive is an engraving of the Vitruvius Scoticus information about the design, however, was not executed. It stipulated to connect the four-storey main building with two symmetrical wings with pavilions, similar to the design for Hopetoun House. The great wealth of Lord Braco allowed him a completely new construction, rather than as originally planned, to cause only the conversion of an existing building. However, he fell during construction in a court dispute with his architect who not only delayed the construction, but that caused Lord Braco himself never moved into the castle and allowed to stand as a body shop.
Design
The house presents itself in its central block as a cuboid with an elaborate neo-classical facade. Particularly striking are the Corinthian colonnade in the center of the southern and northern front. On all four corners of the house of dome towers is limited. In this way it is reminiscent of Castle Howard and Houghton House. The interior is based on the French Rococo and is luxuriously equipped with carved paneling, pilasters, ceiling decoration made of paper mache and stencil painting.
History
After Lord Braco not fed in Duff House, he seems to have his eldest son, Lord MacDuff passed, who lived there until 1809. The following Earls of Fife also lived in Duff House until 1906 the towns of Banff and Macduff handed the sixth Earl, who was wearing since his marriage to Princess Louise, the oldest daughter of the future Edward VII, also the title of Duke of Fife. Since then it served alternately as a hotel, sanatorium and POW camp. After World War II it has been gradually renovated. Since 1995 it is part of the National Galleries of Scotland. This is back in the house a collection of paintings by El Greco, JP Cuyp, François Boucher and Allan Ramsay Mrs. Daniel Cunyngham to see as well as furniture by Thomas Chippendale.