I made this section drawing following a short residency at Dumfries House with the Royal Drawing School. The house was built in 1760, and has been adapted and altered a number of times since. Dumfries House is also renowned for it’s collection of 18th Century Furniture, including a number of Thomas Chippendale Pieces. The House was owned by the Bute family until 1993. In 2007 the Estate and it’s contents was saved from being spit up, when HRH The Prince Of Wales and a number of Charities and Heritage Bodies formed a consortium to buy the House, it’s Estate and Contents with the express aim of preserving it in its entirety and making it more accessible to the public.

The Library I surveyed and drew, was originally a Billiard/ Smoking Room, converted by Lord Bute from what was a Turkish Bath in 1904. The smoking Room is organised around a large marble chimney piece, 3 steps above the Billiards area, within the existing 18th Century West Pavillion. Both Rooms are lined with book cases, and the steps and two pairs of columns divide the two spaces. A glass skylight retained from the original Turkish Bath, floods light into the centre of the room, where the Billiards Table was . The section drawing shows how the change in level allowed observers to watch the billiards game without disturbing the game.