It was once the country retreat of prime ministers, pop stars and Hollywood actors. All came to historic Woodbank House to take in the peace of the surroundings and its breathtaking views along the length of Loch Lomond.
Built by one of Scotland’s greatest architects, the Georgian mansion was home to a number of wealthy Glasgow merchants before becoming a luxury hotel.
Granted a Category A listing by the government, supposed to ensure its protection, its empty shell now overlooks a new £50m tourism development that blocks the views from its once manicured lawns.
Woodbank was built in 1775 in the style of Robert Adam, around an earlier core dating back to 1650. The architect was the renowned Sir William Bruce, the 17th-century Architect Royal, who worked on the restoration of Holyrood Palace and brought Italian marblesmiths from Edinburgh to Loch Lomond to install elegant fireplaces.
The first owner was Charles Scott of Dalquhar but in the 18th century it passed into the hands of the Ewing-Gilmour family, wealthy merchants from Glasgow. In the 1930s it was turned into a hotel, and with its prime location overlooking the southern reaches of the loch at Balloch became the Cameron House of its time.
Tory Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden stayed there on visits north of the Border and in the 1960s it became the haunt of actors and pop groups. Guns of Navarone star Anthony Quayle and the Swinging Blue Jeans, the Merseybeat band that had a string of Top 10 hits, were regular visitors.
Historic Scotland thought it worthy of its highest listing for architectural value, describing it as a "classic piece of mid-Georgian neo-classical architecture". The front was topped with decorative urns which still perch precariously on its crumbling facade today, one of the few reminders of its former grandeur.
The hotel was closed in 1981 after a catastrophic decline in guests. Part of the reason was the building of the Alexandria bypass which took passing trade away from the old main road along the lochside and Woodbank’s impressive frontage. Since then, the building and its grounds have been decaying.
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