Caldwell House

Caldwell House was constructed around 1773 to a design by Robert Adam, for William Mure a Baron of the Scottish Exchequer. It has been the subject of extensive study, mostly through the papers of the Mure family archive at the National Library of Scotland. The work has included investigating William Mure's relationship with Robert Adam; the initial construction of Caldwell House; the financial problems following the death of Baron Mure and the completion and occupation of Caldwell House.


View of Caldwell House - detail from Ramsay (1839) Views of Renfrewshire

Caldwell House. The design, construction and completion

Our publication on the early history of Caldwell House contains information about the period before construction of the current mansion, along with the story of how the occupation of the building was delayed until around 1792. Copies of all of the various versions of Robert Adam's plans for the building are included along with the transcript of detailed construction records. Click the image for further information on ebook and print versions of the publication.

The early relationship between Robert Adam and William Mure is also discussed in our article Robert Adam, William Mure and the Edinburgh Riding School appearing in The Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland Magazine, Spring 2016.

Local family history resources

As a byproduct of our work, we have assembled a range of material that may be of interest to family historians. This includes census data and also a transcript of the record of who was involved in building Caldwell House. Follow the link on the left if you would like to download this material.