John Crichton-Stuart, 4th Marquess of Bute, had a particular enthusiasm for the amenity value of the Scottish townscape, and from the early 1900s onwards he began to buy up the central houses on the north side of Charlotte Square, with the intention of restoring Adam's original design, which had been compromised by 19th-century intrusions, including dormer windows and alterations to the proportions of the first-floor windows.
Lord Bute acquired the house at No.
5 first, in 1903, and thoroughly restored its interior in an Adam Revival style, furnishing the principal rooms with antique furniture so that it could function as the Butes' town house in Edinburgh.
He subsequently acquired No.
6 in 1922 and No.
7 in 1927.
Lord Bute's enthusiasm for Charlotte Square was given permanent expression when the City of Edinburgh invoked the Town Planning (Scotland) Act 1925 to effect the Edinburgh Town Planning (Charlotte Square) Scheme Order, 1930.
The Bute family thereafter moved from the house at No.
5 to the neighbouring property at No.
6, taking many of the contents of No.
5 with them.
John Crichton-Stuart, 4th Marquess of Bute, had a particular enthusiasm for the amenity value of the Scottish townscape, and from the early 1900s onwards he began to buy up the central houses on the north side of Charlotte Square, with the intention of restoring Adam's original design, which had been compromised by 19th-century intrusions, including dormer windows and alterations to the proportions of the first-floor windows. Lord Bute acquired the house at No. 5 first, in 1903, and thoroughly restored its interior in an Adam Revival style, furnishing the principal rooms with antique furniture so that it could function as the Butes' town house in Edinburgh. He subsequently acquired No. 6 in 1922 and No. 7 in 1927. Lord Bute's enthusiasm for Charlotte Square was given permanent expression when the City of Edinburgh invoked the Town Planning (Scotland) Act 1925 to effect the Edinburgh Town Planning (Charlotte Square) Scheme Order, 1930. The Bute family thereafter moved from the house at No. 5 to the neighbouring property at No. 6, taking many of the contents of No. 5 with them.
Bute House