LAP OF LUXURY AND HAVEN TO THE STARS
AS the country seat of wealthy landed gentry, Cameron House has long proved a draw for the rich and powerful. For 330 years this spit of land on the banks of Loch Lomond was home to the Smollett family, merchants and shipbuilders who rose to the top of the political tree.
Their baronial mansion charmed VIP guests from ex-prime ministers Sir Winston Churchill and Sir Anthony Eden to royalty, with Princess Margaret among those wining and dining there.
In the 1970s and 1980s, it was a bear park before being transformed into a jewel in the crown of Scottish hospitality. Charging up to £800 per night, it has hosted international stars drawn to its stunning scenery and secluded luxury.
Now the lasting image of this five-star award-winning celebrity haunt is of fire engines circling the charred ruins of the lodge house, damping down the smoke in the wake of yesterday’s fire.
While this devastating chapter in Cameron House’s history is a personal tragedy for the bereaved families, the hotel’s US owners will be counting the cost to its prestige as a discreet hideaway.
The cream of the A-list have been drawn there, including Sir Sean Connery, Michael Jackson, Clint Eastwood, Robbie Williams, Cameron Diaz, Bill Clinton and opera star Luciano Pavarotti.
It has been a preferred stayover for the Scotland and England football teams for internationals at Hampden, while its lochside setting has made it a favourite wedding venue for the well-heeled.
In 1997, Ayrshire-born supermodel Kirsty Hume’s marriage to Donovan Leitch, son of singer Donovan, at Luss Parish Church was followed by a reception at Cameron House at which guests included supermodel Helena Christensen and film director Sophia Coppola.
The bride wore a medieval-style gown, her hair in long plaits, while US Harper’s Bazaar called the three-day event ‘pure romance’. The couple later split.
IN 2008, golfer Colin Montgomerie hosted a celebritystudded dinner at Cameron House hours before his illstarred wedding to Gaynor Knowles.
Occasionally, some sporting guests have caused unwanted attention, including the bizarre antics of resident Paul Gascoigne, and a boozing session which ended the international careers of two Scotland football stars.
Yet, even before Cameron House was thought of as a bolthole for the rich and famous, it served as a country retreat for the fabulously wealthy – and well-connected – Smolletts of Dumbarton.
Sir James Smollett, knighted in 1690 by William of Orange, was an enthusiastic advocate of a United Kingdom and involved in drawing up the 1707 Act of Union. He later become the first Westminster MP for the Dumbarton burghs.
Most famous in the family was Tobias Smollett, an 18th century novelist and poet who travelled widely. He is said to have once remarked: ‘I have seen Lake Garda, Albana, de Visco, Bolsetta and Geneva. Upon my honour I prefer Loch Lomond to them all.’
In the 1970s the Smolletts turned part of the 100-acre woodland estate into a safari park featuring bears and other exotic animals.
In 1986, they sold the estate to De Vere Hotels, which created a 132-bedroom hotel. The resort is also known for its championship standard golf course and restaurant run by Michelin-starred chef Martin Wishart.
It soon attracted international football players and music stars, including U2, Cher and Take That, who used it as a base before concerts in Glasgow, 20 miles away.
Paul Gascoigne signed for Rangers in 1995 but he struggled to settle after splitting from wife Sheryl, and when the marriage collapsed he moved into a £6,000-a-month private lodge at Cameron House. He remained there for two years, once ordering a curry to be delivered from Glasgow.
In 2001, the hotel was at the centre of a police probe after it emerged that drug dealers Gerald Donnelly and Kenneth Murray were holed up there with 8.8lb of heroin and enough guns to fuel an underworld drug war.
In 2009 the venue played host to an eight-hour binge drinking session by members of Scotland’s football team.
It was claimed captain Barry Ferguson and goalkeeper Allan McGregor racked up a £1,500 drinks bill following defeat against Holland in a World Cup qualifying match in April that year.
Both were banned from playing for the national side again, although McGregor was later handed a reprieve.
THE resort was bought in 2014 by QHotels and sold a year later to US investment firm KSL Capital Partners for £80million. In August this year management announced the completion of a £4million refurbishment.
Much of that hard work now lies in ruins in the space of a few terrible hours. The worst of the fire damage appears to have been inflicted on the most historic part of the house.
A notice on the hotel’s website initially warned it would remain closed for at least the next two days. That was later revised, with a statement saying it would be 72 hours before they could admit new guests.
For now, it seems, Christmas is on hold at Cameron House and it remains to be seen when it will be restored to its former glory.