Mavisbank House

300 years after it was built and 50 years after it almost burnt to the ground, a major grant of £5.3m from the National Heritage Memorial Fund means that the Landmark Trust can now begin rescuing Mavisbank House: one of the most important buildings at risk in Britain.

The extraordinary house, just outside Edinburgh, was built by celebrated Scottish architect William Adam in 1723. The house was a summer residence for John Clerk of Penicuik, a leading figure of the Scottish Enlightenment, and signatory of the Act of Union (1707).