James Ogilvy (1750-1811), inherited the Cullen estate as well as the titles of 7th Earl of Findlater and 4th Earl of Seafield upon his father’s death in 1770. James was an amateur architect, landscape architect and philanthropist. He married Christina Teresa Murray (1755-1813) in 1779 but shortly after ceased to live with her, residing instead with his companion, Mr Wilson. He had a room for Mr Wilson included in a design for Findlater Castle by Robert Adam. He spent a lot of time living on the Continent, as recorded in The Gentleman’s Magazine. After acquiring a number of vineyards in the Loschwitz district of Dresden, Findlater began the construction of an extensive country house overlooking the River Elbe. The house, which later formed the core for Schloss Albrechtsberg, was nearing completion when the Earl died on 5 October 1811. He was succeeded by his cousin Lewis Alexander Grant (later Grant-Ogilvy), but only in the Earldom of Seafield. Upon his death, the Earldom of Findlater and Lordships of Deskford and Ogilvy became dormant. A number of properties, including that in Dresden, had been bequeathed to Findlater’s then companion, Johann Georg Fischer. Findlater was buried in a tomb at Loschwitz Church where some years later, at the age of 87, Fischer was also interred.

Cullen House dates from at least the sixteenth century and had been added to in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries to form an irregularly shaped, sprawling house. The Adam family had been involved with the Cullen estate since the early-eighteenth century when William Adam senior made designs for a single-arch bridge, which was executed in 1744. Between 1767 and 1783, the Adam office made a series of designs for additions to Cullen House and the estate, most of which were not executed.

In 1789, the Adam office made designs for a new castle, called Findlater Castle, along with stables and offices, a gate, and a bridge, for the 7th Earl. These were initially thought to be on site of the existing Findlater ruin, roughly two miles east of Cullen, however, a 1789 plan of the Cullen grounds by the landscape gardener Thomas White suggests that Adam’s plans were intended to replace the existing Cullen House (Binney, p.2040). At the same time, the architect James Playfair was asked to make designs for alterations to the existing Cullen House. In Robert and James Adam's bills, there is an item for designs and surveys of Cullen House on 24 July 1779 which Binney suggests are related to Findlater Castle. The 7th Earl was an amateur architect himself, and Rowan suggests that the eccentric nature and extravagance of some of the designs produced for the Earl were a result of Robert Adam altering schemes to incorporate his client's own ideas. Adam wrote in a letter to Thomas Kennedy of Dunure, his client at Dalquharran, 20 October 1789, ‘I have made a new edition of a plan for Lord Findlater but whether he will ever begin to build it I don’t know; if a new edition could be made of himself I would be more able to answer your question.’ None of the designs for Findlater Castle were executed.

See also: Cullen House, Moray; Lodges for the Earl of Findlater, unknown location; and Designs for a town house for an unknown location, possibly Portland Place, London.

Literature: A.T. Bolton, The Architecture of Robert and James Adam, Volume II, Index, 1922, pp.13, 71; M. Binney, ‘Cullen House, Banffshire – I’, Country Life, 15 December 1985, pp. 1970-4; M. Binney, ‘Cullen House, Banffshire – II’, Country Life, 26 December 1985, pp. 2038-42; A. Rowan, Designs for Castles and Country Villas by Robert and James Adam, 1985, pp. 138-141; A. Tait, ‘Lord Findlater, Architect’, The Burlington Magazine, October 1986, pp. 737-41; D. King, The Complete Works of Robert & James Adam and Unbuilt Adam, Volume 2, 2001, pp. 162, 242, 244; A. McAlaney, ‘Earl of Findlater, designs for a town house for an unknown location, possibly Portland Place, London’, Sir John Soane's Museum Collection, online, 2019, [accessed 01 February 2024]

Louisa Catt, 2024