Inveraray Castle

Inveraray Castle stands on the shore of Loch Fyne in Argyll, the historic home of the Dukes of Argyll, who are chiefs of Clan Campbell, since the eighteenth century. Work on the present house began under Archibald Campbell, Earl of Ilay and later 3rd Duke, whose estate improvements started in 1743; the foundation stone was laid in October 1746, replacing an earlier fifteenth-century castle on the site. The design drew on both William Adam and the architect Roger Morris, and the finished building is counted among the earliest exercises in Gothic Revival — a taste often likened to Horace Walpole’s Strawberry Hill. Later in the century, neoclassical interiors were created for the 5th Duke by Robert Mylne. The outline changed over time: the roofs were at first flat and crenellated, but a third floor carrying pitched roofs and dormer windows was afterwards added across the four wings, and steep conical caps raised over the round corner towers. A serious fire in 1975 forced the 12th Duke and his family to live in the basement while the castle was restored. Now a Category A listed building set among gardens, it remains the home of the present Duke of Argyll, whose family occupies private apartments within.