Borders council to take possession of swanky country house

SPECIAL REPORT by EWAN LAMB

A sumptuous collection of rare pottery and books, paintings and furniture assembled over many decades by two eminent Scottish families will be sold at auction next month before Scottish Borders Council takes possession of an up-market country house in the final phase of a £10 million taxpayer-funded property deal.

According to a report to be considered by councillors the local authority will gain access to Lowood House, complete with wine cellar, swimming pool and servants' quarters in April 2022.

The former home of the Hamilton family dates from 1830, and has been part of the Lowood Estate, near Melrose, which is now entirely in public ownership. But plans to develop the surrounding land for housing and other infrastructure projects has slipped behind schedule. There has been little or no activity at Lowood since the controversial acquisition by SBC in late 2018.

One condition of the purchase from Cayman Islands based Lowood Trust was that Alexander Hamilton and his wife Erica, who divided their time between the Borders and Jamaica, could continue to live at Lowood. But following Mr Hamilton's death last year the family has decided to leave Lowood after residing there since 1947.

A confidential valuation report prepared prior to the council deal contains details of the attractive property by the banks of the River Tweed. This extract outlines the accommodation:

"Ground Floor – Vestibule, entrance hall, drawing room, dining room, conservatory, library, study, kitchen, utility room, old kitchen, 3 pantries, cloakroom with toilet and a further toilet. Wine cellar. First Floor – Landing, 4 bedrooms (1 en-suite) and family bathroom. Housekeeper’s Flat – Lounge, 3 bedrooms, kitchen and bathroom.

"Traditional stables are within the partially developed stable block to the west of Lowood House. These are of stone and slate construction and house 12 traditional loose boxes with part cobble, part concrete floors. Garage/workshop".

The surveyor's 'desk-top' report, compiled without an inspection of the house's interior, includes the following passage: "Internally, the property is well presented but is in need of modernisation and upgrading. The majority of the ground floor is well maintained with the exception of the old kitchen which is largely unused save mainly for storage. The first floor accommodation is well presented too with the exception of a bedroom to the south east which was in the process of being upgraded. Double glazing would be beneficial and the property may need rewiring."

Based on that assessment it appears a considerable sum will be required before the house is ready for alternative use.

The website of auctioneers Lyon & Turnbull contains details of the Lowood contents sale to be conducted online on October 6th together with a detailed history of Lowood and its occupants.

The eclectic country house collection it contains was amassed by two Scottish lowland families: the Crum Ewings and the Hamiltons.

"The Crum Ewing’s fortunes were founded by James Ewing (1775-1853), who was Lord Provost and MP for Glasgow in the early 19th century. He lived in a house where Queen Street station now stands in Glasgow city centre and later bought Strathleven House and estate in Dunbartonshire, which he set about enlarging and improving.

"Having no children, the house was inherited by his relations the Crum Ewings and latterly Constance Crum Ewing (1899-1982) and her husband Ian Bogle Monteith Hamilton (1890-1971) until it was compulsorily purchased by the Board of Trade in 1947, at which point the couple bought and moved to Lowood House."

The Lyon & Turnbull publicity material adds: "Following the death of Ian and Constance’s son Alexander Hamilton (1932-2020), the family are now leaving Lowood and feel it is time to pass on the majority of the contents to new owners, with the hope that they will be enjoyed and appreciated as much as they have been by the family over the generations.

"THE HIGHLIGHTS - The sale will include everything you might expect from a country house contents, from pictures, furniture and works of art to silver and a library of books. Many of the older paintings at Lowood came from the collection of James Ewing, who was collecting enthusiastically in the early-to-mid 19th century, both before and around the time that he and his wife undertook a thirteen-month Grand Tour of Europe beginning in 1844. These and many of the other older pieces in the sale will have come to Lowood from Strathleven."

The online catalogue suggests the 'star of the sale' will almost certainly be: "AN UNRECORDED ITALIAN [URBINO] ISTORIATA MAIOLICA DISH, ATTRIBUTED TO NICOLA DA URBINO, CIRCA 1520-23 “SAMSON AND DELILAH”. Estimate: £80,000-£120,000.

Other items likely to attract interest include PTARMIGAN IN THE SNOW, by Archibald Thorburn, Signed and dated 1910, watercolour Estimate - £30,000 - £50,000; A pair of Monumental Cantonese floor vases - £6,000-£8,000; Chinese black lacquer twelve panel screen - £5,000-£7,000

CIRCLE OF FRANCESCO TIRONI - ST. MARK'S SQUARE, VENICE. Oil on canvas; and a companion by the same hand, a 'Venetian Canal Scene' - £10,000-£15,000; ATTRIBUTED TO LUDOLPH BACKHUIZEN - A DUTCH COASTAL SCENE WITH MAN O' WAR -Indistinctly signed with initials, oil on canvas; and a companion by the same hand, a pair. £15,000-£25,000.

AN ITALIAN [GUBBIO] ISTORIATA MAIOLICA LUSTRED DISH FROM THE WORKSHOP OF MAESTRO GIORGIO ANDREOLI, EARLY 1530S “AENEAS AND ACHATES LEAVING THEIR FRIENDS TO EXPLORE THE COAST OF LIBYA”. £20,000-£30,000.

The auctioneers have also featured a copy of David Roberts' three-volume elephant folio about Egypt and Nubia, and published in the mid-nineteenth century which could fetch £50,000 according to antiques experts. The item is displayed with an Egyptian mummy mask made of linen and papyrus.

At the time Lowood became part of the council's property portfolio one suggestion made was that the big house could be converted into a so-called boutique hotel.

The latest report to elected members by local government officers says: "The Council is close to being able to secure occupation of the house and an option appraisal process will be undertaken on a range of future uses in the short, medium and long term. It is proposed that this option appraisal will take three months to complete and a report on this will be brought back to members in early 2022.

"The Council is currently undertaking Community based consultation on the Neighbourhood Centre which is focused around Lowood House and the existing estate buildings. It is the Council’s vision that this will attract visitors and tourists to the area as well as strengthen the community function of the Neighbourhood Centre."