It is not clear who the patron of this scheme, John Gordon, was. By the eighteenth century, the Gordon Clan had several branches with many members named John Gordon. The Adam office made a number of schemes for various branches of the Gordon Clan including Fyvie Castle, Cluny Castle, and Letterfourie. Bolton suggests this was for John Gordon, of Lisbon (d. 1785), who was a subscriber to Robert Adam’s Ruins of the Palace of Emperor Diocletian at Spalatro in Dalmatia, 1764. Very little is known of John Gordon. He was a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Portuguese army, the brother of George Gordon of Gordonbank, and had a son, Edward. Gordon died in 1785.

In 1781 the Adam office made designs for a villa for John Gordon near Aberdeen. It is not clear where this was located or whether it was executed. The design was for a small two-storey, three-bay house with an attractive front comprising a pedimented portico flanked by Venetian windows, with a projecting bay to the rear.

Literature: J. M. Bulloch, The House of Gordon, 1903, p. lxviii; A.T. Bolton, The Architecture of Robert and James Adam, Volume II, Index, 1922, pp. 1, 72; D. King, The Complete Works of Robert & James Adam and Unbuilt Adam, Volume 2, 2001, p. 121

Louisa Catt, 2024