Kinloch Castle Friends Association

A Lavish Retreat in the Hebrides

Kinloch Castle was constructed between 1897 and 1900 on the remote Isle of Rùm as the grand summer residence of Sir George Bullough, a wealthy Lancashire textile magnate and sportsman. Built of imported Arran sandstone by the firm Leeming & Leeming, it was a showpiece of Edwardian luxury—one of the first homes in Scotland equipped with electricity, central heating, plumbing, and even an internal telephone system.

Interior Opulence & Everyday Life

Within the castle’s walls, visitors were enveloped in the lavish world of Edwardian high society:

  • The galleried living hall, panelled in rich mahogany, was filled with stags’ heads, tiger skins, and Eastern antiques, creating a trophy-laden spectacle.

  • A mechanical orchestrion—a self-playing orchestra—provided musical ambiance in the hall without needing a live ensemble.

  • Recreational spaces included a ballroom (with minstrels’ gallery), billiards room, smoking room (complete with smoke-extraction ventilation), and a library and gun room catered to leisure and sporting pursuits.

  • The castle housed some curiously modern luxuries: a Steinway piano visibly worn by dancing heels, an early hydrotherapy setup with multiple bath settings, heated turtle and alligator ponds, and climate-control features to remove cigar smoke—or cool a room.

Up to 100 staff lived on-site at the castle, including gardeners, cooks, housekeepers, and engineers, fully staffed to support an extravagant social season. The Bulloughs erected formal gardens, a bowling green, a nine-hole golf course, greenhouses (even growing fruits like peaches and grapes), and exotic aviaries and ponds, all fed with imported Ayrshire topsoil.

Life and Living within the Walls

Inside Kinloch Castle’s walls was a world of extravagance—a carefully orchestrated display of wealth, comfort, and spectacle. It blended cutting-edge Edwardian technology with colonial-style collecting and luxury leisure, creating a self-contained getaway that was as surreal as it was majestic.

Use the navigation system on the above toolbar to see the castle blueprints and more.