Sometime after Robert Adam died in 1793, four architects were appointed to carry out his unexecuted plans for the New Town in Edinburgh, One of them, William Burn (1789 -1870), who later became one of the leading architects of his time, was the builder of Ardanaiseig.
Burn’s early work was in and around Edinburgh. His best-known buildings are the Melville Monument, the Edinburgh Academy, George Watson’s and St John’s Episcopal Church. The Edinburgh Academy and George Watson’s are neo-classical buildings with no trace of the Scottish Baronial style of building of which Burn and his pupil Bryce were to become the most dignified exponents.
During the 1830s and 1840s, Burn was the principal architect in Scotland of large houses of the nobility and gentry. His chef d’oeuvre was Bowhill which was built for the Duke of Buccleuch.
The only other example of his work in this area is Gallanach near Oban, which was build in 1817, but which was extensively altered and added to at the beginning of this century.
Ardanaiseig is a Grade II listed house. The exterior remains virtually unchanged but parts of the interior were altered by the Ainsworth family and of course the conversion of the house to an hotel has inevitably involved further alterations recently.
Every effort has been made to keep these changes to a minimum and to preserve the atmosphere of a private house.