Photo from Famous Scottish Houses by Thomas Hannan, 1928

Auchinleck (pronounced Affleck) House is located in Ayrshire, about eleven miles east of Ayr and three miles south of Mauchline. It is in a restored condition.

The 1500's

The lands were originally owned by a family who took its name from the lands, "de Auchinleck." In 1504, the Auchinleck family forfeited the land, and King James IV gave the land to Thomas Boswell from Baluto, Fife. The original structure was built sometime in the 1500's.

This original structure is now in ruins, replaced by four houses built in the 1700's.

The 1700's

Auchinleck House, or "The Place of Auchinleck" as it was once known, was built by Lord Auchinleck, James Boswell, Esq. The Scottish classical-style mansion was designed by Robert Adams, one of Scotland's most famous architects. The exact year the house was built is not known, but since Lord Auchinleck died in 1782, the estimated year it was built is around 1780. Auchinleck House remained in the Boswell family until it passed through the female lines to the Malahide family.

The house is located between the glen of the Lugar and Dippel Rivers. Burns wrote of the Lugar River:

Behind yon hills where Lugar flows
'Mang moors and mosses many, O,
The wintry sun the day has closed,
An' I'll awa to Nannie, O.

The 1900's

In the 1920's Talbot de Malahide, the great-great-grandson of James Boswell who built Auchinleck House, sold Auchinleck to another Boswell, Lt. Col. John Douglas Boswell.

Today

The House is now now owned and operated by The Landmark Trust, which restores properties of historic and architectural importance and then lets them out for holiday stays.

Written by:
Jill Ray
Source: Famous Scottish Houses by Thomas Hannan, 1928.

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