Bute has been called the Scottish Isle of Wight, and certainly Rothesay, its capital, with its Winter Garden and decorative ironwork, is reminiscent of the South Coast. Ascog lies on the sheltered east coast of the island. Trees (especially beech) and shrubs (Charles Rennie Mackintosh drew fuchsias here) grow lushly in its mild climate. It has been gently developed as a superior resort since the 1840s, with a scattering of respectable houses above the bay. Building on the shoreline was wisely forbidden.  

One such house stands in the large and secluded grounds of the old mansion house of Ascog, once home to a branch of the Stewarts. We have acquired both buildings, which stand a few hundred yards apart, each looking over its own, rather different, garden.

Meikle Ascog is what nineteenth century guide books called a neat villa. Its builder, and possibly designer, was an engineer called Robert Thom, who bought the property in 1830. Thom’s greatest achievement, besides the sensitive development of Ascog, was to succeed where engineers such as Watt and Rennie had failed in the quest to provide Greenock with water – the loch from which it comes is named after him.

In its arrangement his house reflects a logical and inventive personality, being laid out in the most rational way possible to achieve the most agreeable result: every room is pleasant to be in. The windows look out over a shrubbery and from the first floor you can see, framed by fine trees, the sea with the mainland beyond, where Thom made his name and his fortune.

View our history sheet for this Landmark.

Sleeps: 10