AWK-in-leck or af-FLECK

Scotland

Ayrshire

55.445278

-4.50831

1760

Fully Extant

Grade A

Unknown

No

Villa

By Appointment

Preservation Organization

Holiday Rental

Owned by the Landmark Trust.

Laird of Auchinleck, Bowell family, until 1885.

8th Laird of Auchinleck

Auchinleck House was built circa 1760 in the Neoclassical style of the Adam brothers by an unknown architect, though it seems almost certain that Lord Auchinleck, father of James Boswell, was himself involved in the design of the House. (The Boswells had held land in Ayrshire since the 14th century.) James Boswell, 1740-95 (author of “The Life of Samuel Johnson,” 1791), became 9th Laird of Auchinleck upon the death of his father in 1782. Boswell brought Samuel Johnson to Auchinleck in 1773; in the Library Johnson famously came to blows with Lord Auchinleck (Boswell's father). Boswell wrote much of "The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides with Samuel Johnson, LLD," 1785, in the Study at Auchinleck, the famous precursor to “The Life of Samuel Johnson." The House and grounds remained in the Boswell family until 1885. Lord Talbot, the last of the Boswell line, sold Auchinleck and its 900 acres in 1920. During World War II the House was used by Canadian, Polish, and Free French forces. In 1986 the House was sold to the Scottish Historic Building Trust, who preserved the exterior, but left the interiors bare to prevent dry rot. A lack of funds prevented the Scottish Historic Buildings Trust from further preservation; ownership was then transferred ownership to The Landmark Trust, who restored the House for use as a holiday home in 2002.

James Boswell’s father, Lord Auchinleck, had a famous collection of rare books at Auchinleck House.

Auchinleck is probably the finest example of an 18th century country villa to survive in Scotland.