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Lauriston Castle

📍 Edinburgh, Scotland

4.1 ★★★★ 780 reviews

About

Lauriston Castle is a 16th-century tower house with 19th-century extensions overlooking the Firth of Forth, in Edinburgh, Scotland. It lies on Cramond Road South, between Cramond, Davidson's Mains, and Silverknowes. The substantial grounds, Lauriston Castle Gardens, operate as a local park. The castle was bequeathed to the Edinburgh Corporation and hosts the Lord Provost's annual Garden Party. The house is a Category A listed building and the grounds are included in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland.

The original tower house was built around 1590 by Sir Archibald Napier, father of John Napier who invented logarithms. Extended in Jacobean style by Thomas Allan in the 1820s. Last private owners William and Margaret Reid bequeathed it to the city of Edinburgh in 1926, stipulating nothing be changed. The interiors remain an Edwardian snapshot with Crossley mosaics, Derbyshire Blue John, and fine furniture.