Gribloch, Kippen, Stirling, Scotland, Highlands, Architect, Date, Location

Gribloch House, Scotland : Stirlingshire Home

Scottish Basil Spence Building in Kippen – 20th Century Property for John Colville steel magnate

post updated 25 January 2022

Gribloch

Date built: 1938-39

Architect: Sir Basil Spence (1907-76)

Highland Country House designed for John Colville, a Glasgow steel magnate.

Gribloch is located 1km south west of Kippen near Stirling and forms a Y-shape in plan as was fashionable at the time for country houses – for example many of Edwin Lutyens‘ houses.

Although the house has white-rendered walls and flat roofs in true Modernist style, its interior flirts with Scottish vernacular and English Regency details.

John Colville’s wife hailed from the USA and Gribloch includes an early version of a (American-style) fitted kitchen.

Basil Spence buildings

This 13 bedroom character property appears to have been on the property market for £1,500,000.

Key features:
A listed Art Deco masterpiece
Set in around 148 acres
Drawing room
13 bedrooms
Cottages
3 bedroom gate house
Gardens
Garage
Pond
EPC Rating = E

Gribloch is a wonderful country estate which includes Sir Basil Spence’s Art Deco masterpiece which was built in 1938 for the Scottish steel magnate John Colville and his Californian wife Helen. Today it is A listed and has been upgraded with a remarkable specification.

It has the most wonderful panoramic views looking out to the Grampians spread across the north west horizon in what seems to be one continuous range, from the peak of Ben Lomond prominent to the west as far as Ben Vorlich, with the Ochils up away to the east.

The property was featured in Country Life in January 1951 when Arthur Oswald reported:
‘There can be few houses in the British Isles that command a finer or more extensive panorama than Gribloch’.

It is built under a copper roof which was largely replaced in 2005, and the interior offers entirely flexible accommodation of over 10,000 sq ft.

source: https://www.onthemarket.com/details/2898480/

Kippen, west Stirlingshire

Kippen is a village in west Stirlingshire, Scotland. It lies between the Gargunnock Hills and the Fintry Hills and overlooks the Carse of Forth to the north. The village is 9 miles (14 kilometres) west of Stirling and 20 mi (32 km) north of Glasgow. It is 4+1⁄2 mi (7 km) south-east of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, Scotland’s first National Park.