ART HOUSE RULES
The influence of renowned pop artist and sculptor Gerald Laing, remains strong at Kinkell Castle, now owned by his son Farquhar
Kinkell Castle is a Highland tower house and a family home filled with the art of former owner and pop artist, Gerald Laing
‘ Gerald Laing, the renowned pop artist and sculptor, painstakingly restored Kinkell in the 1960s’
Set on a brae near the market town of Dingwall in the Highlands, Kinkell Castle, the Laing family’s 16th century tower house, stands proud amongst a giant patchwork of green, gold and bronze fields.
Gerald Laing, the renowned pop artist and sculptor, painstakingly restored Kinkell in the 1960s. His daughter-in-law Jill has drawn from the colours favoured by Gerald during his pop art period as well as the pastoral palette outside for the sunny yellows, leafy greens and earthy reds throughout the castle.
Jill and her husband, foundryman Farquhar Laing, moved to the ochre-hued castle with their young family – Madeleine (10), Fergus (9) and Jemima (6) – when Gerald passed away five years ago. ‘It was a bittersweet move,’ admits Jill, ‘but there’s something special about returning to Farquhar’s childhood home with our children.’
And what could be more magical t han growing up in a castle? With its centuries-old stone staircase and thick plait of scarlet rope spiralling up and around a turret that gives access to each of the four storeys, it is undeniably evocative of a fairytale.
Enchanting it may be to the eye, but the substance of this family home is grown up, particularly on the first floor in the great hall.
Here Jill and Farquhar have added handmade oak shutters to the original windows, framing the verdant gardens and bucolic landscape beyond, while walls painted a muted yellow provide an understated backdrop for inherited antique pieces such as a mahogany dresser and bespoke oak bookcase.
Armchairs and sofas upholstered in tactile leathers and tweeds are comfortably arranged around a square footstool, and tapestry cushions, woven by Gerald, pick out the primary colours of his contemporary art works, hanging bold and bright on ancient walls.
One of the dress stones even features ‘graffiti’ thought to have been etched by Bonnie Prince Charlie when he hid in the castle after the Battle of Culloden in 1746.
The centrepiece of the room, however, is the original stone fireplace. ‘It was an open fire until recently,’ Jill recalls, ‘but it didn’t heat the room effectively so a substantial wood burner now fills the space.’
On the level above, the corridor leading to the master bedroom is cosy and bright with gorse-yellow walls and coir matting underfoot. The main bathroom is also found on this floor, where Jill has chosen metro tiles in soft
‘Walls painted a muted yellow provide an understated backdrop for inherited antique pieces’
green as a fresh backdrop to the white cast iron bath and antique sink, while an antler has been fashioned into a quirky loo roll holder.
The bedroom feels uncluttered owing to a separate dressing room whilst a log burner and austere wooden bed chime with the room’s solid proportions. Jill has softened the space with cushions and a throw in contrasting hues of fuchsia and lime. Next to a hobby horse made for Farquhar when he was a boy by his father, a striking white nude plaster cast rests on a mahogany chest of drawers.
Farquhar cast the life-sized bump and bust when Jill was eight months pregnant with Jemima. ‘He’ll cast it in bronze one day,’ Jill says, ‘but commissions have to come first.’
Upstairs, the children’s compact bedrooms are crammed with character. The girls’ rooms are painted in pale candy shades with soft wool throws on the beds and period dolls’ houses. There are Winnie the Pooh sketches on the wall for Jemima, whimsical faerie paintings for Madeleine.
The smallest room belongs to Fergus with
‘The kitchen has a comfortable farmhouse feel with the children’s artwork on one wall and oak dresser-style cabinets along another’
a bespoke cabin bed and a reclaimed cabinet, painted cherry red by Jill, to display his collection of animal skulls.
Descending the four storeys to ground level – ‘ living here keeps me fit,’ Jill laughs – the slated stairwell and corridor remind you you’re in a family home. Boots occupy a shelved alcove behind the iron-studded front door and a bulge of coats sits below a windowsill.
The kitchen has a comfortable farmhouse feel with t he children’s artwork pinned to one wall and oak dresser-style cabinets along another.
Next door, the dining room takes you back in time with its ten-seat Edwardian table and dearth of electrical lighting. Farquhar and Jill host frequent candlelit dinners in the intimate space, lighting dozens of candles in the candelabra hanging from the vaulted ceiling and wrought iron sconces on the walls.
The elegant feel Jill has brought to the castle can also be found on a smaller scale at the bottom of the garden in Kinkell Cottage.
‘Gerald will always be in t he fabric of Kinkell,’ Jill says, pointing out a flagstone on the castle’s kitchen floor inscribed with his initials and the date 1969, commemorating the year Farquhar’s father renovated the castle. ‘I think he would be pleased with what we’ve done.’
‘ Gerald will always be in the fabric of Kinkell. I think he would be pleased with what we’ve done’