How King Charles saved Scotland's forgotten treasure

As the Royal Family's summer holiday home, Balmoral Castle is one of Britain's most famous royal attractions. But few people know King Charles III has another remarkable estate in southern Scotland.

Several hours south of Balmoral, near the former mining town of Cumnock in an overlooked corner of East Ayrshire, Dumfries House hides in plain sight. Even many Scots have never visited the 2,000-acre estate, despite its grand Palladian mansion, extraordinary Thomas Chippendale collection and sprawling gardens.

The historic estate came close to being lost forever in 2007 when the Marquess of Bute put Dumfries House on the market and its priceless contents were prepared for auction. Furniture was already being removed for transport south to London when Charles, then Prince of Wales and now King Charles III, was made aware of the imminent sale and led a £45m ($90m) rescue to save Dumfries House for the nation. 

As the King said at the time: "When Dumfries House's desperate situation first came to my attention I knew we had to do something to prevent a priceless treasure being lost forever."

The rescue preserved more than a historic house and its collection. Over the next two decades, the estate became the headquarters of The King's Foundation and a testing ground for the King's ideas about heritage-led regeneration, practical education and sustainable communities. Today, visitors can tour the house, explore the 2,000-acre grounds and even stay overnight at this royal estate that remains surprisingly overlooked.

Inside the rescued estate

Completed in 1759, Dumfries House was built for William Dalrymple-Crichton, the 5th Earl of Dumfries, before passing through marriage to the Marquesses of Bute. Successive owners spared no expense on the baronial pile. The building was one of the first in Scotland to have electricity, and its symmetrical design is thanks to celebrated Scottish architects Robert and John Adam. Furnishings were ordered from Thomas Chippendale in London, and 50 preserved examples of his renowned craftsmanship now sit within the manor like a career-spanning retrospective.

My tour with local guide Joanne Morris began in a sitting room with an unexpected royal touch: watercolours painted by the King himself, many depicting Royal Lochnagar and the mountain landscapes around Balmoral. From there, she led me through rooms that opened one after another like a giant jewel box, revealing 18th-Century floral carpets and Murano glass chandeliers. We walked past paintings by Sir Henry Raeburn, a portrait painter to King George IV, and into a grand hall embossed with Flemish tapestries and ornate plasterwork of birds, leaves and thistles.

"In this sitting room alone there is around £45m worth of antique furniture," Morris told me, as we moved into the house's showpiece. "His Majesty feels that a house's heartbeat is a clock. Which is why we have 38 grandfather clocks, some dating back to 1711."

Outside, blooming Victorian walled gardens, spritzing fountains and manicured hedgerows were bursting with life, giving........

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