[2] The origins of the house date back to 1686, when the Scots architect James Smith purchased the lands of Whytehill, where Newhailes now stands.

James Smith is believed to have studied for the Catholic priesthood in Rome as a young man, but after being inspired by the works of Andrea Palladio, he returned to Scotland in 1675, and instead pursued a career as an architect.

He also accepted a commission from Bellenden to build a villa on the grounds, to be named Broughton House, which was built using the foundations and ruins of an earlier structure.

[3] This original villa comprised only the central core of the current Newhailes House - the two extensions, the Library and Great Apartment wings, were added later by the Dalrymple family.

Note: His older brother, John Dalrymple, 1st Earl of Stair, became one of the darkest figures in Scottish history when he organised and authorised the 1692 Massacre of Glencoe.

On his death in 1721 the house passed to his heir Sir James Dalrymple, 2nd Baronet, a Member of Parliament (MP) for Haddington Burghs and the Principal Auditor of the Exchequer in Scotland.

[4] Sir James extended and reshaped the house, adding a balancing west extension, the Great Apartment wing, and moving the entrance from the north-east to the south-west.

In the pediment over the front door are the heads of a male and a female in profile with the inscription laudo manentum, that is a quote from Horace referring to 'fickle fortune'.

Over the north door of the house is inscribed another Horace quote sapienter uti which relates to the happy man who wisely uses whatever he has been given to work with.

Lord Hailes continued the Scottish tradition of completing his legal education in The Netherlands, studying in Utrecht before being admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1748, where he demonstrated an interest in books by becoming a curator in 1752.

[6] The Society, founded in 1754 by Allan Ramsay, had a membership composed of socially prominent members of the city's elite that reads like a who's who of Edinburgh's Enlightenment.

Although set up as a debating club, the importance of maintaining polite society was recognised by the rule that anything could be discussed 'except such as regard Revealed Religion, or which may give occasion to vent any principles of Jacobitism'.

Frequently Joseph Chamberlain best known as the leading imperialist of the day in Britain, as a Liberal Unionist before he joined the Colonial Office, and John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute, a landed aristocrat, industrial magnate and philanthropist.

His visit coincided with his involvement with a notable company law case, relating to the insolvency of the Cardiff Savings Bank (1892) concerning a duty of care to which he was acquitted.

She was guest of Archibald Kennedy, 4th Marquess of Ailsa styled Earl Cassilis until 1938, and David Dalrymple's sister in law, Frances Countess Cassillis (née McTaggart-Stewart) who were renting the house at the time.

Sir Charles' Will was carefully drawn up under Scottish law by the old established firm of Messrs. Hope, Todd & Kirk W S from their offices in Charlotte Square Edinburgh.

It was during his career in the navy he met Margaret Anna Mctaggart-Stewart at a London party, whilst on leave serving as Lieutenant with HMS Falcon (1899).

David and Margaret divorced in 1919, after his widely publicised affair at the Royal Albion Hotel in Brighton with actress Mrs Dorothy Lewis, 20 years his junior.

They lived in London; both hedonistic, they partied, largely neglecting Newhailes, which was eventually leased to the Earl and Countess of Cassillis, Marquess of Ailsa, Margaret's elder married sister, from the trustees.

Their social lifestyle put demands on the Newhailes trustees and various house antiques were sold at auction at Sotheby's and Frank Partridge & Sons.

Dorothy went back to the theatre, and David eventually died of a heart attack at his flat near Regent's Park, in Walton House, Longford Street on 2 December 1932 age 53.

A month before he had changed his will, stating “I give devise appoint and bequeath all my real and personal property of whatever nature or kind and wheresoever situate unto my said sister Alice Dalrymple absolutely....”[13] Using Scottish law, he essentially had disinherited Dorothy.

In 1935, Mark and his mother discovered on a visit to Newhailes that the estate had been reduced in size - much of the grounds facing the sea front were taken over by the construction of various houses, notably in an area parallel with the main road to Edinburgh.

Upon raising this matter with Hope, Todd & Kirk, it was discovered that his father had instructed the Newhailes trustees to feu part of the grounds for the purposes of housebuilding.

Mark married Antonia Marian Amy Isabel Stewart, in 1946 the only daughter of Randolph Stewart, 12th Earl of Galloway a military man, and his American wife Philippa Wendell, whose sister was married to Henry Herbert, 6th Earl of Carnarvon, whose father had funded archaeologist Howard Carter when he discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun.

[21] In 2016, the National Trust announced a £2.4 million investment plan to be spent on conservation, landscape enhancement, and on commercial and visitor services improvements.

[23] A number of paintings are on display within the house, largely Dalrymple family portraits by Scottish painter Allan Ramsay (artist) (1713-1784) and a selection of local landscapes by James Norie (1711-1736).

Having been acquired by the National Trust for Scotland, it is open to the public by way of guided tours,[25] and functions as a venue for weddings, corporate events and private parties.

[26] Situated to the south-west of Newhailes House, the stables and office block was built as part of the changes initiated on the estate in 1798 (with the north and east ranges constructed in 1826).

[2][27] A rare survival of an early to mid-18th century Rococo landscape garden, developed in the formative period of the 'natural' style in Scotland, laid out during 1720-40s for the Dalrymple family.