The root of the Stuart’s fortune came through the marriage of John Stuart, the then 3rd Earl’s son, to heiress Charlotte Jane Windsor in 1766. This marriage provided the Stuarts with substantial estates in South Wales upon the death of Charlotte's parents, and he was subsequently elevated to 1st Marquess of Bute in 1796. The 2nd Marquess transformed the small town of Cardiff into a hub of industry by building the enormous Bute Docks to export vast quantities of coal and became one of the richest men Britain through his industrial endeavours.
The 3rd Marquess of Bute was less than a year old when, in 1847, he became heir to the enormous wealth his father had accrued. He was the driving force behind the rebuilding of Mount Stuart into Victorian Gothic. When he reached his majority there was a public scandal when he converted to Catholicism. He was a skilled linguist in 21 languages, held the office of Rector at St Andrews University from 1892 until 1897, and an architectural patron embarking on approximately 60 building projects.
The Stuarts had many other residences in the past, aside from Mount Stuart. Rothesay Castle is the earliest surviving home of the Stuarts on the Isle of Bute. Built during the first quarter of the 13th century, it survived early attacks from the Norse, Bute's previous rulers. In 1685 the castle was ransacked by the forces of the 9th Earl of Argyll, and left uninhabitable.
Further field, the family also had a home in Ayrshire: Dumfries House. The 2nd Marquess of Bute inherited the house from his maternal grandfather, the 6th Earl of Dumfries. He never used the house as a permanent residence, although the 3rd Marquess and his family lived in the house for a period, after the first Mount Stuart burned down in 1877.
Buildings associated with the Stuarts are Castle Coch and Cardiff Castle, Highcliffe Castle in Dorset – all Gothic Revival and the Palladian Dumfries House in Ayrshire.
Tapestries were commissioned - The Lord of the Hunt was the first tapestry woven by Dovecote Studios in Edinburgh, and took from 1912 to 1924
The gallery
Marble chapel
Horoscope bedroom
This neo-gothic mansion was one of the most technologically advanced Victorian houses. The central heating system was designed by Victorian engineer Wilson Phipson, who had achieved fame by heating prominent buildings such as London's Royal Albert Hall. A horse-drawn railway was constructed from Kerrycroy village to the house to transport the materials which included granite, sandstone, marble and, for the swimming pool, tiling.
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