Melville Tree House

The policies surrounding James Smith's late seventeenth century masterpiece, Melville House, are perhaps the last place one would expect to find a 'Scots Baronial' tree house. But there it is, witches hat roof emerging from the remains of an elderly cedar of Lebanon. If it had been my tree house it would have to be an elevated square pavilion with an ogee roof, to echo the original pavilions on the south side of the house.

Melville House

One of the most beautiful Classical houses in Scotland, and one of the earliest, was built on the Monimail Estate by architect James Smith (c.1645-1731) for George Melville, 1st Earl of Melville. Work on the house, intended to impress his countrymen with his wealth and power, started in 1692.

The Melville's had been protestant supporters during the reign of Charles II but when George Melville was implicated in the Rye House Plot to put the Duke of Monmouth on the throne, they had to flee into exile in Holland. Only in 1689 could the family return, with William and Mary. For his loyalty to King William, George Melville was rewarded with the position of Secretary of State for Scotland and a year later the earldom followed. He was the most powerful royal servant in Scotland at a time when loyalty to the exiled James II was still prevalent among landowners in Scotland.  His desire to impress  led to the commission of the fabulous bed made for the apartment of state at Melville House. When the family decided to sell Melville House in 1949 the bed went to the Victoria and Albert Museum where it is described as "the most spectacular single exhibit in the Victoria and Albert's British Galleries."

The architect James Smith had been appointed Surveyor of Royal Works in 1683 and is believed to have been a protege of the great Sir William Bruce. Melville House has been called the finest example of Scottish Palladianism and it is a wonderful facade of great strength and simplicity. It has a plan in the classic H shape with two projecting wings joined by screen walls on the south, original entrance front.

The entrance to the forecourt is flanked by two of the most delightful ogee roofed pavilions, with weather vanes displaying the date. 1697. A long avenue of beech trees ran straight to the south.

Palace of Monimail

A small tower is all that remains of the summer palace of the archbishops of St Andrews. Cardinal James Beaton (1539-46) is said to have built the tower but the upper levels were altered after the Reformation and date to 1578. The palace's most famous inhabitant was Cardinal David Beaton who was murdered in 1546.

The earliest episcopal residence on the site was as early as 1300. Not only was it a favoured position on the south facing Howe of Fife but it was also conveniently close to the two roads linking St Andrews to two of the kingdom's most important cities. It remained in Church hands until the Reformation when it passed to the Balfour family and was held by them until 1592 when they sold the property to Sir David Melville. There is considerable irony in this as members of the Melville family had been implicated in the murder of the archbishop

In the 1690's George Melville, 1st Earl of Melville decided to build himself a new house in the fashionable Classical style to be called Melville House. For many years the Palace of Monimail was retained as a picturesque garden folly, until in the 1820's the family decided to landscape their policies and the palace was pulled down leaving only the tower as an element in the designed landscape.