News from Greywalls

by Giles Weaver

Greywalls is the only house designed from scratch by Lutyens in Scotland (although he did work on Roseneath in Renfrewshire). Ir was completed in 1901 for Alfred Lyttleton and had an addition in 1910 designed by the Scottish architect, Sir Robert Lorimer. Greywalls was described by Weaver in his Houses and Gardens by E. L. Lutyens as a “small, albeit dignified holiday home” – now with just 23 bedrooms and en suite bathrooms including the lodges that used to be footmen’s bothys.

The Horlick/Weaver family bought it as a holiday home in 1924 and turned it into an hotel in 1948 when it was de-requisitioned by the military after the war. After 60 years as an hotel the family has decided to close the conventional hotel operation and re-open it as a venue for exclusive use, i.e. people can again take the whole house for their holiday or a party. It is situated right beside the 18th green on Muirfield golf course. The gardens are attributed to Gertrude Jekyll because she was collaborating with Lutyens at that time but there are no original planting plans extant. The Weavers live in the gardener’s cottage and take great care to keep the property and the gardens up to scratch.

Giles Weaver