So today, i found a magnificent baroque/french style hideaway, right on my front door step- so to speak- in the most unlikely places (i would have thought) of South Lanarkshire, greater Glasgow, Scotland.

My boyfriend had been nagging me for months to go for a walk in the country park and we finally went today. Well, boy am i glad i agreed! Driving up the drive i saw the sign "Chtellerault" said "oh thats french!" and was then faced with the imposing and beautiful manour house dating from 1773.

Heres some pics i took (from a crappy iphone, next visit will be with some serious photography equip to do it justice (and some awesome textures for sl!)

Brief History: (by wikipedia)

Chatelherault Country Park is a country park in Hamilton, south lanarkshire, Scotland. Its name is derived from the French town of Chtellerault , the title Duc de Chtellerault being held by the Duke of Hamilton.The country park is centred on the former hunting lodge of the now demolished Hamilton Palace. The lodge was designed by William Adam who favoured baroque and pavilion architecture, and was completed in 1734. It comprises two pavilions linked by a gateway. The north facade was visible from the palace and forms the front of the building. To the rear are formal parterre gardens. The buildings provided kennels, stables and accommodation for hunting parties returning from the woodlands to the south. Adam jokingly referred to his creation as 'The Dogg Kennel'. An avenue of lime trees linked the lodge and the palace, formerly located in Hamilton.

So who lived in a house like this?

James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran (15151575) (also Duke of Chtellerault in the French nobility from 1548 until 1559).

Arran joined the pro-French faction, consenting to the marriage of the Queen to the French Dauphin, later Francis II of France .This led to the seven-year war with England now called the rough wooling which was declared on 20 December 1543. In 1548 the Queen of Scots went to live in the French court. For his work on negotiating her marriage, Hamilton was created Duke of Chtellerault , and made a knight of the order of St Micheal.

In 1554, Arran surrendered the regency to Mary of Guise, Queen Mary's mother. Hamilton gave up the Regency on the condition that he would be next in line after the Queen, if she died childless. But the Scottish succession had been secretly promised to France. In the first months of the Scottish Reformation, Hamilton continued to support Mary of Guise. He changed allegiance again in August 1559, joining the Protestant Lords of congregation to oppose the regency of Mary of Guise, and lost his French dukedom as a result. After the death of Guise, Hamilton persuaded the Parliament of Scotland to back a plan to marry his son James to Elizabeth 1 of England ^, and then after the death of Francis II of France in 1560 he attempted, without success, to arrange for James to marry the young widowed Queen Mary.

After Mary married Lord Danley in 1565 he withdrew to his estates in France. In 1569, he returned to Scotland and was imprisoned until, in 1573, he agreed to recognize Mary's infant James as King of Scotland.

So, all in all a great find today, i hope to re-create this estate in SL soon!