A masterpiece of the stonemason's craft: this little, beautiful building bursts forth from its naturalistically serrated stone leaves, atop an elegant octagon
Does the world and his wife flock north to see the Pineapple House, in the park of the long since demolished Dunmore House in Stirling? If not, why not? To help with this dismal deficit in their lives, I must make sure that they can at least rejoice in its startlingly delicate originality. It was built in 1761 by the 29-year-old Earl of Dunmore for his wife Charlotte, with whom he had ten children, so as to relish their large and lusciously stocked, brick wall enclosed vegetable garden, planted thick with such rarities for these northern climes as pineapples and peaches. A huge and perfectly proportioned stone fruit, of brilliantly carved, coalesced berries, this little, beautiful building bursts forth from its naturalistically serrated stone leaves, atop an elegant octagon. A masterpiece of the stonemason’s craft, each leaf and berry is separately drained to avoid frost damage. To the north, with...
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