James Smith (architect, died 1731)

[2] The architect is generally identified as the "James Smith of Morayshire" who attended the Scots College, Rome from 1671–75, initially with the aim of entering the Catholic priesthood,[3] although some scholars are cautious about the certainty of this identification.

[2][4] By December 1677, Smith was in touch with Sir William Bruce, the most prominent architect of the time in Scotland, and the designer of the rebuilt Holyrood Palace, Edinburgh.

He complained in a letter to John Clerk of Penicuik that he had been "disgracefully turned out of His Majesty's service in the 73rd year of his age".

However, an unsuccessful coal-mining venture forced him to sell part of the estate in 1706, and he assigned the rest to his son-in-law Gilbert Smith in 1726.

This circular structure is modelled on the Tempietto di San Pietro, designed by Donato Bramante (1444–1514), and illustrated in Palladio's Quattro Libri.

[4] Smith's country houses follow the pattern established by William Bruce, with hipped roofs and pedimented fronts, in a plain but handsome Palladian style.

In 1701 he acquired the rights to manufacture the steam engine invented by Thomas Savery, and in the 1720s he was involved, with William Adam and Alexander McGill, in an early proposal for a Forth and Clyde Canal, linking Scotland's east and west coasts.