Yester House - Lammermuir Festival

Situated on an ancient estate on the edge of Gifford, this great house was begun at the end of the 17th Century by James Smith and Alexander McGill. In the early 18th Century the owner, The 4th Marquis of Tweedale, engaged William Adam to continue the work and when he died his more famous son Robert Adam made major alterations in the classical Palladian style. As well as modifying the exterior he designed the magnificent saloon or ballroom, the house’s most glorious feature and widely regarded as one of the great rooms of Scotland. From 1972, Yester was for many years the home of the composer Gian Carlo Menotti.