John Hope (1704-81), 2nd Earl of Hopetoun, was the eldest son of Charles Hope, 1st Earl of Hopetoun and Lady Henrietta Johnstone. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1727. In 1733, he married Lady Anne Ogilvy, daughter of James Ogilvy, 5th Earl of Findlater and Lady Elizabeth Hay. He succeeded his father in 1742, and became 2nd Earl of Hopetoun, and Viscount of Aithrie. From 1744 to 1760 he held the office of Lord of Police in Scotland and in 1754 became Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. His wife died in 1759, and he married Jane Oliphant, daughter of Robert Oliphant and Jena Colville, in 1762. She died in 1767 and he married a third time in 1767 to Lady Elizabeth Leslie, daughter of Alexander Leslie, 7th Earl of Leven and Hon. Elizabeth Monypenny. He had children with all three wives. He died in 1781 and was succeeded by his son, James Hope-Johnstone.

Hopetoun House was designed by Sir William Bruce and built between 1699 and 1702. It was added to by William Adam (senior) for the first Earl of Hopetoun from 1721, and the second Earl of Hopetoun from 1742 and included a grand new front with flanking quadrant wings. The relationship between Adam and both Hopetoun’s would result in the patronage of Adam’s son, Robert Adam, who went on his Grand Tour with the second Earl’s younger brother, the Hon. Charles Hope-Vere. After William Adam’s death in 1748, the brothers, John, Robert and James completed the interior of the house, including the hall, the dining room and the red drawing room. The oldest part of the house, designed by Bruce, was left untouched.

There are only four known surviving drawings in the Soane collection that relate to Hopetoun House. These drawings include preliminary and finished drawings for two chimneypieces and mirror frames, as well as a stair banister. These drawings are undated; however, it is possible that they date from when the Adam brothers, John, Robert and James, completed the interior of the house between 1750 and 1758. A pencil inscription at the top of one of the preliminary drawings (SM Adam volume 3/85) reveals that these were intended for the second floor, however it is not known if they were ever executed.

Literature:
A.T. Bolton, The Architecture of Robert and James Adam, 1922, Volume II, Index, p. 18; J. Fleming ‘Hopetoun House, West Lothian – I’, Country Life, 5 January 1956, pp. 16-19; J. Fleming, ‘Hopetoun House, West Lothian – II’, Country Life, 12 January 1956, pp. 62-65; J. Fleming, Robert Adam and his circle, 1978, pp. 9-14, 91-94, 106-7; A. Rowan, ‘The Building of Hopetoun’, Architectural History, Vol. 27, 1984, pp. 183-209; S. Pryke, ‘Hopetoun House, West Lothian’, Country Life, 10 August 1995, pp. 44-49; D. King, The Complete Works of Robert & James Adam and Unbuilt Adam, 2001, Volume 1, pp. 180-1; C. Mosley (ed.), Burke's peerage, baronetage & knightage, 2003, p. 2313; W. Adam, Vitruvius Scoticus: Plans, Elevations, and Sections of Public Buildings, Noblemen’s and Gentlemen’s Houses in Scotland, ed. J. Simpson, 2011, p. 28; J. Geddes, (et. al.), The Buildings of Scotland: Lothian, 2024, pp. 450-460

Louisa Catt, 2024